The Other Side
by JesterChester
Summary: A new beginning, but never a second chance, at some point everything went wrong. Santana, Rachel, Quinn, and Charlie start their new lives in New York, but not without plenty of struggles on the way. They fought to get out, but can they fight to stay? This is New York, and this is where dreams are either fulfilled or destroyed. Sequel to 'Wake'
1. You Can Have Her

**Okay so I think I've decided on this title, it was originally going to be _Otherside _which is a song that you all should listen to by the way, it's by Macklemore, but I just thought this sounded better. Anyhow, this is the sequel to my other fic titled 'Wake', so I'd suggest reading that before starting on this one.**

Santana's POV

This was it. New York University. I was standing in the middle of the dorm just looking up at the walls, the architecture, and the paintings hanging around. Quinn was going to hate this place. I was used to places I hated, I didn't care that I had to share a room with Claire Bowers, some chick from San Francisco who thinks she's the next Lana Del Rey. I didn't even care that my floor was coed and I might be in a shower stall next to some dirty jock from Texas, all that mattered was that I had finally made it out of Ohio.

I was lucky that first year students got their stuff moved up to their room by seniors, which meant that Olivia and I were able to settle all of my things in a little over an hour. "Check you out college student." Olivia said as she laid down on my bed. I didn't like the bedspread it was far too girly and it'd probably give Claire the impression that I was the Saturday night shopping spree kind of girl, which I wasn't.

"Yea check me out." I said with a small smile. It's true that the only reason I ended up here was because my father pushed me so hard in school, but it doesn't matter because I'm here because of my accomplishments, not his. "Quinn texted and said she was still three hours away."

"Quinn texted you, I thought you were at odds with that whole group." Olivia said quirking an eyebrow. It was true, I'd been totally distant from everyone for awhile now, but I needed Brittany to stay balanced, and Quinn needed me just as much as I needed her, it was only Charlie that had avoided me for basically the latter half of the summer. It's not that I didn't mind, because I did, but I didn't know how to approach things anymore.

"Just Charlie…I talked to Rachel about a week ago, we went out and got coffee and surprisingly it wasn't awkward. We just talked about school, music…it was nice." I explained and Olivia nodded her head just before she checked her watch.

"Hey, I gotta get going, I've got a midnight deadline. Call me tonight and let me know if everything is okay." I gave my sister a quick hug before she left my new dorm room and I took the spot on the bed that she previously occupied. I got out my phone just in case Quinn decided to call or Brittany and Charlie got lost on the way to their apartment.

I only had the luxury of peace and quiet for a total of five minutes before two very large Italians came barging into the room caring suitcases and boxes of things. I figured Claire would be coming up within seconds and I was right. Claire was a mix of Phoebe Tonkin and Mila Kunis in looks, but from our three sky calls I could just tell that she was totally unpredictable. "Oh my god! Santana, you're already here!" She wrapped her arms around me in a deathly gripping hug while simultaneously squealing. I wanted to cut my ears off. "Just look at you, just the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen in my life." She said before walking over and telling one of the _movers_ that they needed to be careful with the last two boxes.

"Thanks." I muttered before returning to my spot on my bed.

"We've got to go out tonight. Our first night in New York, it's got to be special. Do you know any places?" Claire asked as she went over to the full length mirror on the back of our door and checked her makeup. The two guys left without even saying a word and I rolled my eyes and just thought they had the classic New York attitude.

"Yea, once my friend gets here, we can all go our together." Claire started making her bed, but stopped as soon I mentioned the word _friend_.

"Oh a friend? Like a boyfriend or something? I'm not really good at third-wheeling." She told me honestly.

"No, god no I wouldn't do that. She's just my friend from Ohio, nothing like that." I wanted to tell Claire how I thought that maybe they should just go out together because I figured Quinn and Claire would actually get along. Quinn was slightly more edgy, and Claire was slightly more annoying, but I think Claire and I weren't really that similar.

"Good, thank God." She said. My phone buzzed and I saw that I had a text from Quinn.

**[From Quinn]: **Red a-fucking-lert, I just arrived and my roommate is listening to Marilyn Manson! Belle is a Nazi freak. I repeat, Belle is not a Disney princess she is a Nazi.

I laughed and wished that Quinn would've called and said that so I could tell her how ridiculous she was being. Quinn was on the second floor of the dorm room while I was on the forth, it was pretty night having her be so close and we could hang out all the time.

**[To Quinn]: **Put on a tight dress, let your hair down, and come up to my room. Claire wants to go out to a club. Invite your Nazi, but be here in 10.

"So your parents didn't help you move in here?" Of course my parents didn't either, but at least I had Olivia.

"No, they're into the whole independence thing. It's kind of wonderful." Claire said. She was already wearing a green dress, perfect for clubbing, and I wasn't really into the whole clubbing scene so I always just stuck with what I was wearing anyway. I decided it'd be best to just go to a straight club, so I wouldn't freak out Claire within the first few hours of us meeting, not that I really cared what she thought of me.

Quinn arrived seven minutes later, all dressed up with earrings on and everything, and I was going to tell her that she looked like a knockout, but she was already ranting as she walked through the door. "A Nazi, a friggin Nazi. She told me that she wakes up at 4 am and chants while she does yoga. I can't deal with it."

"Stop being a lunatic for a sec will ya?" I stood up and turned Quinn's shoulders so she could see Claire. "Quinn, this is Claire, Claire this is my friend Quinn." Quinn went for a handshake but Claire went for a hug, it was awkward, but in a good way, and we all laughed about it as we started heading out.

This would be fun. It was a new experience. It was a new change, we'd finally made it. I'd finally escaped.

…

Charlie's POV

"It's late Britt, how do you know it's even opened?" For once Brittany was being the rebel and for once I was trying to avoid getting in trouble. In Lima, a lot of the cops knew my name, in New York this was another ball game and I was just learning the rules. Brittany didn't seem to care, and she probably didn't have to, one look at her innocent face and anyone would let her go.

I was really starting to reconsider keeping my hair pink.

"Of course it's opened; studios are usually opened at all hours. Dancers get inspiration at all times." Brittany exclaimed happily as she twirled in the air and landed on the ground gracefully. I didn't know if I should stop and watch her or continue following her.

"Even at 2 in the morning?" I joked as I jogged to catch up to her.

"It's 2:13 Charlie." Brittany corrected me as we reached the main studio at Julliard. I held my breath as Brittany reached to open the door, I expected it to be locked, or for an alarm to go off, but instead it opened and Brittany ran inside with me following her. This was clearly why she insisted on wearing yoga pants and a tank top all day, even when I thought we were going to bed.

I can safely say that I've never seen such a beautiful space. And I've been in a million studios all over the country because I went to about 20 of Brittany's auditions so I could support her through this whole process. This studio was huge though, and it overlooked the street below, with perfect floors and even bars surrounding the whole open space. "Isn't it amazing?" Brittany said taking my hands and spinning me around.

"Not as amazing as you." I replied getting a playful smack on the arm from Brittany. "What?"

"Stop being so cute so I can concentrate." She warned me as she kicked off her shoes and bent over to stretch.

"Is this a free show or do I have to pay?" I asked her from the other side of the room. I heard her laugh and figured she didn't mind my little distractions, but she actually enjoyed them. I grabbed her shoes and sat down on the ground and watching as she spun in what seemed like a thousand circles, occasionally flipping, or jumping, or changing directions.

I thought about shouting out _you're perfect _to her, but I know she's heard it a thousand times from me and I wondered if it ever gets old.

I never thought that I'd be sitting in a dance studio in New York watching my girlfriend practice at 3 in the morning. I never thought that I'd be in New York. I never thought I'd have a girlfriend.

The one thing I did think, though, was that Santana and I would be closer friends. It just all changed too quickly, I overstepped, but I was only looking out for her. I wanted her to be happy, I thought Rachel made her happy, and maybe she did, but something happened this summer that changed everything.

More secrets. That's all I saw when Santana looked me in the eye and it scared me, but mostly it just hurt me. Couldn't we get past this? I didn't want to lose a friend, especially not Santana, but she was slipping away and I could see it. I kind of just wanted to fight. Just to punch her a few times, and for her to punch me a few times too, that's how things should be settled, it would be easier than just talking it out, and we both knew it.

"Charlie, you've got that look on your face." Brittany said sliding over next to me on the floor. Her hair was in a loose bun, it was the way she wore it when she was doing hip-hop dancing, or when she was watching cartoons on Saturday morning. I smiled and kissed her instead of responding, because I didn't want to worry her, I just wanted to keep loving her. "What are you thinking about?" She asked as she rested her head on my shoulder and held onto my hand.

"I have to start looking for a job tomorrow."

"You don't have to. My parents are paying for our apartment-."

"No, I want to take care of you." I told her placing a sweet kiss on her forehead. "Plus I need to keep busy, I'm doing it for myself too." Brittany nodding in understanding. "We should go back home." Brittany looked up at me with a huge smile spreading across her face. "What?"

"It's just nice to hear you say home." She pressed her lips against mine. "Our home." She whispered before dragging me up to my feet and wrapping her arms around me.

…

Quinn's POV

First day of field hockey practice and I'm hung over. Not a good way to start out, but also not awful. I was good, no I was better, than I remembered, and it also helped that Santana had trained the hell out of me to get me prepared. I could tell the coach was impressed, but she wasn't going to hand out free compliments.

It wasn't until I scored my third goal in the scrimmage that I started really getting some recognition from the other girls. "Hey, nice job Fabray." Michelle Berg yelled as she subbed in for me so I could get some rest. I ran over to the bench and grabbed a water bottle. I didn't want to sit down so I stood and drank the water, while still watching the game.

"You're really good." I turned and saw a girl sitting on the bench with crutches in her hand. She had dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes, and her smile was actually genuine unlike a few of the other girls. We did introductions this morning and I don't remember seeing this girl or hearing her name. "I'm Marley; I wasn't here earlier for introductions. I tore my ACL in the spring, so now I'm honorary water girl." Her smile was sort of contagious, but I didn't even understand why she was so happy, if she was out for the season.

"I'm Quinn." I said wondering if Coach Marlow cared if we talked on the bench, or if she was one of those ladies who wanted silence and intense focus. "Are you a senior or…?" I just thought about how awful it would be if I got hurt during my last year of college and I felt pretty awful for Marley.

"Oh no, I'm just a sophomore." Marley responded. "But you'd better be careful out there. You're showing up some seniors, I just don't want drama for you so soon." I was thankful that she was looking out for me, and I could tell that we'd be friends on the team. She seemed sweet and I wondered if she would help show me the ropes.

"Yea that Rebecca chick, tried to take me out back there." Marley smiled and patted the spot next to her, which I took without a second thought.

"Rebecca has always had it out for freshmen; she's kind of like the big shot on the team. If you're really competitive then she'll like you, if you're not she'll hate you, it's that simple." Marley explained.

"Well does she like you?" I asked.

"No, she hates me." Marley's smile grew. "I can't help it. It's just about having fun for me, not destroying other people." I understood, I didn't agree, but I certainly understood. "After practice a lot of the girls go eat lunch at this place called Romero's, it's got everything…you should come too."

"Yea I'll definitely think about it."

…

Rachel's POV

Two seconds into the class and already Ms. July is all over me. I've never heard anyone act so rude for no apparent reason. She thought I was a hick, she thought that she was so great and wonderful just because she came from New York. Well good for her, she didn't even give me a chance to prove myself, and that was the main reason I was so upset.

I didn't storm out. I stayed for the whole class, I even changed into sweats and a light zip up like everyone else, but I just hoped that I could get back to my dorm room as soon as possible and cry myself to sleep.

About half of the class had to take subway to get back to our dorms, which was why I barely even noticed that someone was walking right beside me until I was tapped on the shoulder. "Hey." I turned and faced the blonde hair girl with a smile spreading across her face. "Don't worry about Cassandra, she's a bitch to everyone." I nodded, not really feeling like I wanted to talk about Ms. July anymore than I needed to. "My name's Kitty."

"I'm Rachel-."

"Berry." She finished for me. I eyed her curiously, as we stepped onto the subway.

"There are only two freshmen in the class, I had to ask around." She was still smiling and now so was I. "I'm sort of happy I did too." My cheeks warmed up and I hoped to God that Kitty didn't think I was just another loser.

"Sort of?" Was I teasing or flirting? Even I couldn't tell at this point, but I kind of adored that she just smiled and took a step closer to me.

"You caught me, I'm really happy that I checked up on you." Her hand was against the bar behind me and every time the subway stopped her hand would graze the back of my thigh, and it didn't look like for a second that she thought about moving. "I'm kind of jealous though." She said quietly, forcing me to lean in closer so I could hear her. I think she did it on purpose, because it was obvious that she was flirting now, but I didn't mind.

"Why are you jealous?"

"Because the word is that you're a singer, which means you'll only be in this class for half a semester." I nodded my head at her words, she definitely had a point.

"This is true." I started. "But maybe I'll still hang around, if you're lucky." She smiled and lean closer to me, and then moved her lips to my ear, nudging my hair back with the tip of her nose as our bodies got closer.

"I could only dream of being so lucky with you."

…

Quinn's POV

So I'm sitting at this table with all 16 girls on the team and I never realized how rowdy college girls could get at 2 pm on a weekday. I was lucky to have Marley here because otherwise I think I'd get caught up in all the laughing and jokes about different girls on the team.

"I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned about the amount of food that Rebecca has consumed." I mumbled to Marley who looked towards the other end of the table at the senior captains and laughed along with me.

"She can throw down." Marley said. I took another bite of my sandwich and laughed again when Rebecca started taunting Sarah, the other captain. They were sort of crazy. I felt a nudge under the table and I turned towards Marley looking at her with questioning eyes. "Who's that girl walking over?" I looked up and saw Santana coming straight towards me with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Quinnifer what the fuck?" Santana said handing me credit card and a brand new wallet. I knew I had forgotten something. This was why I was so hesitant about coming out to lunch.

"I'm so sorry San, I knew I'd forgotten something." I put the credit card in the wallet and looked up at her hoping she'd accept my apology. "Wait where'd the wallet come from?" I knew my father was dropping off a few more things today like some clothes and this credit card, but he never said anything about a new wallet.

"I bought it for you." Santana said crossing her arms over her chest and waiting for a thank you. "Cause I'm sweetheart. By the way your dad called me San, which is never gonna fly. It's cool though, you can just buy me a drink later to make up for the wallet."

"What? Hell no, I'm not buying you shit." I told her. She grabbed a chair from a table behind us, took it, and sat down next to me. A few of the girls at the table were staring at Santana, but she didn't seem to care in the least bit because she was currently eating some of my fries. "I hate you so much." I told her in that normal best friends joking way.

"Aww that's so sweet, I hate you too, Quinnie bear." Santana said with that wickedly charming half grin. "So what the hell is this? Like your team or something?" Santana asked.

"Yea, this is the team." Marley chimed in. "I'm Marley by the way."

"I'm Santana." They shook hands and I kicked Santana shin before she could go ahead and charm everyone at the table. "Ow, the fuck Q?" Santana said before kicking me back. "Oh are you upset because I'm ruining your team meal? Oh I get it, I'm not cool enough for you." I rolled my eyes while the five girls in the immediate area laughed.

"You just think you're hot shit huh?" I said poking Santana in the side.

"I am hot shit." She replied with a cocky grin. "Look I gotta go, I need groceries, you can come over later if I'm not still annoyed with you then. Bye Q." I didn't even wave goodbye to her I just nodded my head as she walked away. I only got the chance to breath for a total of three seconds and then half of the team was jumping down my throat.

"Oh Jesus, that sexual tension was insane." I quirked an eyebrow at Rebecca, had she lost her shit? What sexual tension?

"Give me a fucking break, sexual tension? With Santana and me? I don't think so." I corrected.

"She's fucking hot though." Michelle said getting a few nods around. "If you don't want her I'll take her."

"You can have her." I said with a shrug. "I should go though, I have to finish unpacking." No one really paid attention except the underclassmen. All the upperclassmen seemed to care about right now was how they were going to get into Santana's pants. It was almost comical though, how most of my team was gay, it wasn't like I cared either way though.

Marley followed me out of the building, saying something about how she would walk with me back to the dorm because she lived in an apartment right near me. I didn't mind the company at all. "So is Santana your best friend?" Marley asked.

"Yep, always has been." I said, even though I knew we'd sort of been on an odd road recently, because Santana and Charlie were at odds. "She's the best." I sort of threw out the comment but I could tell that Marley was really listening because she smiled.

"You shouldn't bring her around the team though, some of those girls are relentless when it comes to hook ups." Marley explained.

"Oh don't worry about that, Santana's gay so she'll probably be in heaven." I said nonchalantly, until I realized I probably shouldn't have said that. "Oh my god, I don't know if she wants people to know that about her…shit. Just pretend I didn't say that."

"I won't say a word." Marley assured me. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

"Bye Marley, I'll see you then."

**So what do you guys think? I'm trying to get in some of the new characters, I have a feeling that a lot of people like Marley and not a ton of people like Kitty, but people ship them together (?), I guess that's how it is. They'll both play a role in the story so I hope you're all okay with that. I don't know the exact plot line for this story, so I'm kind of going to go with the flow, but I do know that there will be a ton of drama, secrets, and romance so I hope everyone sticks around. review please. **


	2. Are You Drunk?

**Parker88: I don't know if it's a little foreshadowing, but I can say that Santana is going to be acting a little differently this time around. **

**Ichigo111981: I know, it's tough to see pezberry apart, but I can't say that they won't date other people. And the key thing is that Santana didn't break up with Rachel just because of a small thing, she wasn't just scared, she was terrified. Santana may seem carefree, but she's not and it's going to show later on. And there will be drama, but no cheating, that's a promise. **

**Cass: The thing with Santana and Rachel is that, yes they loved each other, but Santana had so much baggage and issues that she didn't deal with the first time. She has to get through that first, otherwise she can't move on with her life in a healthy way.**

Charlie's POV

"Where am I going?" I asked as I jogged around the corner and held the phone up to my ear. Quinn was awful at directions, and I was a second away from punching her, I just needed to find her first.

I saw her standing on the corner of the street, waving her hands around like I was the one causing the problem when it was so clearly her. She was holding a microwave in her hands and she lowered it to the ground when I got closer. "Guess what time it is." Quinn said sarcastically eyeing a spot on her wrist where a watch would've resided if she had one. I rolled my eyes and picked up the microwave, walking in the opposite direction before Quinn could chew me out.

"I got lost, sorry; I'm not always hanging around NYU…Jesus." Quinn was following me, holding bags of clothes, while she tried to catch up.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were _busy_." She just thought she was so much better than me. She was in college; she was playing field hockey, while I was hitting the streets trying to find myself a job. It wasn't fair, and it was patronizing, but Quinn had no idea that she was even doing it. "I have practice at 5 and then my scrimmage, so we can grab a late lunch or something if you want." I nodded even though I would much rather punch Quinn than eat with her.

"Wait is your weird roommate in there?" Belle was sort of weird, and every time I saw her it seemed like she just glared at me.

"Yes unfortunately." Quinn said as she pressed the button for her floor on the elevator. "Last night she was doing some weird cult shit. I'm gonna need out in a second." Quinn said shaking her head and pressed the button harder, like that would make the elevator go faster.

"Did you talk to Santana about what I said?" I asked Quinn once the doors opened and we started walking down the hall towards her dorm room. Quinn kicked her door open and scanned the room, letting out a sigh of relief when she didn't see Belle sitting down in there.

"No, it's your idea. We can all talk about it together." She was just being stubborn, well I guess I was too, but that was beside the point. Santana and I hadn't talked since we arrived in New York last week, and I didn't see that changing so soon. I wanted an apology and I felt like until that happened I wasn't just going to give in.

I know something happened.

So why the hell was she lying to me? I cared about her, but not enough to let her continue hurting people around her.

I also knew that she wasn't trying to hurt anyone.

But she was and it was going to get out of hand. I felt like we were back to square one, Quinn, Santana, and Brittany all being best friends, while Rachel and I resided on the outskirts, and that just wasn't fair. I enjoyed Rachel's company, she was fun to be around and more importantly, I wanted her to be happy, even if that meant her and Santana didn't end up together.

"When she apologizes then we can talk, but not before then." I told Quinn who just shrugged and took the microwave out of my hands and placed it on a stand. She tossed her clothes into her closet and grabbed her sports bag.

"Fine…but I'm not going to stop hanging out with her because you aren't."

"I never said you had to." I assured her. Quinn looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's hard finding a decent job out here. I mean I guess I can work at a restaurant as a busgirl…but I dunno…" Quinn walked over and placed her hand on my shoulder. "What?"

"You don't have to rush it. Brittany wants you to be happy, and if you come home all pissy about your job then she's going to feel terrible. So just wait a little longer, find something you enjoy, please." I nodded knowing that Quinn was spot on with her advice. "Anyway back to me, so-." There was a knock at the door and Quinn arched her eyebrow like this was the last thing she expected.

"Come in." I said for her, plopping down her bed and waiting for the person to open the door.

"Hi Quinn, I was wondering if you wanted to walk to practice togeth-…oh…hi." I smiled and waited for the introductions from Quinn.

"Marley, hey, this is my loser twin Charlotte." Quinn said, I stood up and shook the girls hand before returning to my spot on the bed.

"First off everyone calls me Charlie and I'm not even going to comment on the loser thing because I kinda am, I mean I am jobless." Quinn tossed her duffle bag at me and luckily I caught it before it hit me in the face.

"Oh you need a job? Because I can totally help you out with that." My eyes lit up at Marley's words.

"You can?" I asked.

"Oh gosh yes, my father owns a bookstore and normally he just works with my mother but she's in Germany working on a documentary. He's been looking to hire for a few weeks now." I wanted to hug the girl, but I figure that'd be too forward, so I just grinned from ear to ear. "I can give you his contact information if you want."

"Yea totally, wanna come to lunch with us too?" Quinn offered.

"Sure!" Marley exclaimed. "This is going to be so awesome; I've never had twin friends."

…

Rachel's POV

"I just wanna dance." Brittany told me as she continued to spin in circles in the middle of the NYADA dance studio. I invited her here because I knew that she could easily help me. She was passionate and intelligent when it came to dancing and I needed both of those attributes right now.

"So do I, but I can't." I told her.

"Yes you can." Brittany grabbed my hands and twirled me around. Forcing me to tango with her, as she took the lead. Brittany was trying to stay serious but when she ran her hand up my thigh, we both broke out into a fit of laughter. "I think you just take it too seriously." Brittany said once we'd both resumed our routine of random spins and jumps.

"It's really hard not to be so serious about it. I mean everyone here is so amazing and-."

"So are you." Brittany said with a smile. "I just think you need to find someone you're comfortable with in the class. Once you do it'll be easier." She was right, but I wasn't sure if I could find someone to work with easily.

Well there was Kitty.

She was so intense though. The best in the class by far, and I sort of wanted to lay low with her, I didn't want to get in her way. "Ugh…I'll figure it out Britt, I should be fine." I assured her. "How are things with Charlie?"

"I'm worried that she's pushing herself too hard looking for a job. I want her to be happy, but I don't want her to feel like she has to do anything for me." I nodded in understanding because I've tried to talk to Charlie about it before. I think Charlie was just the type to try to make others happy and no matter what Brittany said she was still going to keep trying to find a job. It was respectable, but worrisome all in the same breath.

"Well give her a little more time, she'll work it out. If you're still worried about it in a few days then I'll come over and talk to her." I promised. Brittany seemed happy that I had her back. "What are you doing tonight?"

"My dance class is going out to some bar, I'm dragging Charlie along. What about you?" Brittany asked. I had no plans as far as I was aware. I wondered what Quinn was doing tonight.

"She's going to Double X and having drinks with the rest of us." I spun around just to see Kitty standing about ten feet away with a small smirk on her face. "I mean only if you want Rachel." I nodded feeling like I had no voice to use. Kitty walked over and held out her hand to Brittany. "Hi, I'm Kitty."

"I'm Brittany, Rachel's friend." Brittany told her giving her a pleasant smile.

"Oh thank God, you're just her friend." I blushed and looked down at my feet wondering if I should say something now or what. "Are you a dancer too?" Kitty asked Brittany.

"She's phenomenal, she goes to Julliard." I boasted for Brittany.

"Wow I'm impressed." Kitty said with a smile. She pulled out her phone and walked over towards me. "So I need your number so I can tell you the details about tonight." I typed in my phone number and handed her back the phone. "Oh and the dress for tonight can be whatever you want it to be. Some girls in our class wear really slutty stuff, but I'm expecting more class from you."

"Rachel's really classy." Brittany chimed in.

"I know I could tell." Kitty said raking her eyes over my body. "I'll see you later, keep your phone on." I waved goodbye to her, watching as she left. Brittany cleared her throat and smirked at me.

"She has a total crush on you."

"No she doesn't!" I exclaimed.

"Um yea she does." Brittany replied. "She was checking you out like crazy. She's totally going to try something tonight."

"No she won't because I'm not going." I said.

"What? Why not? You just told her that you were going to go." Brittany rationalized.

"I know…but I think I'm gonna try and play hard to get."

…

Santana's POV

It was only a scrimmage, but that didn't mean I couldn't support Quinn anyway. I was proud of her, for dropping the pom-poms and doing something she'd enjoyed since she was a kid. Plus Quinn was tough. I could see how she was just trying to outplay some of the older girls and it was working. I continued cheering for her, calling her Quinnie to Lucy as I yelled louder.

I was happy that Claire decided to join me and was even more of a ragging lunatic than I was because she was half of the entertainment for the people around us. "Hey ref I have glasses in my car I can go get them for you!" Claire shouted. I was nearly falling over at how funny she was. I leaned further over the railing and gave Quinn a thumbs up as she came out of the game and went to get water.

"Dude are you drunk?" I asked Claire who started jumping up and down on the bleachers when the other team looked like they were advancing.

"I thought people pre-gamed for every sport." She said grabbing onto my wrist before she could fall over. "I guess field hockey is not one of those." We both looked over towards an elderly woman sitting on a cushion and wearing a disapproving look. "Got a problem grams?"

"Shut up!" I warned Claire.

"Santana!" I looked up and saw Quinn waving me over towards the bench. There were two trainers, three coaches, and 6 players hanging around the bench. I grabbed Claire's arm and we walked over to the bench by Quinn.

"I didn't think we were allowed over here." I told Quinn.

"Well it's only a scrimmage, and I wanted you to see the action up close." I could see the fire in her eyes and I knew she just enjoyed showing off. "Sit down." Claire continued standing and watching the game, but I took a seat on the bench next to Marley, the girl I'd met a few days ago.

"Hi, it's really nice of you to come to a scrimmage. You're a really dedicated friend." Marley said with a smile.

"I'm assuming that she's buying me drinks after this so I figured I'd get something out of it too." I said with a shrug. "Ouch." I said looking at her knee brace.

"Yea I know ACL injury." She explained. "I've been rehabbing like crazy, but I'm itching to get back."

"That must be tough." I said empathetically.

"Do you play any sports? I mean you…you look like an athlete."

"No, I just try and stay active." I told her. "I run in the mornings…alone…it's pathetic but it keeps me in shape." Marley smiled and sat closer to me.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I nodded even though I had no idea why she would even trust me with a secret of any kind. I'd only talked to her once, and it was for a few seconds, not long enough to warrant secret keeping. "The crutches are just for show. Coach makes me use them when I'm around the girls, otherwise they'll give me crap because I'm not ready to play. I can jump, run, everything really, it's just about being cleared by a few more doctors." It sounded deceitful

"So are you offering to run with me?" I asked her.

"Only if you're up for it." She said shyly, like she half expected me to reject her offer. She seemed too shy to be on a team with a bunch of crazy and wild sporty girls, so I wondered why she was still around.

"Yea, of course." I told her with a smile. "But you're not allowed to outshine me…I'll get really self conscious if you beat me, and I'll totally clam up."

"You're lying." Marley said playfully nudging me.

"Yea, but you didn't know that a second ago." Her smile was contagious, and her eyes were so bright it felt like I could never actually look away. She seemed fun to be around and I was happy that she went to NYU, because we could actually hang out a lot. "Look at Quinn…she's so damn good." I said standing up and clapping as Quinn pointed right at me after she scored her goal, as if she was dedicating it to me.

"She's leading the team tonight." Marley said. "Speaking of…we usually go to one of the dorms after games, like a team party…if Quinn's going then you can come too."

"Oh watch out, Quinn and booze is a terrible idea." Marley suddenly looked worried. "I mean she doesn't have a problem or anything, it's just…when she drinks…she drinks."

"Can you handle her?" Marley questioned.

"Are you questioning my abilities?" I asked her. "Cause that's what it sounds like."

"I'm retracting my previous statement." She said holding her hands up defensively.

"That's what I thought." I replied. I wondered where Marley was from. She seemed very comfortable in New York, but I didn't think she was from the city. She smiled too much, and she liked to talk to people like a normal human being, not like a robot. "So what about you? You look quiet, but I dunno…the quiet ones are always the ones being carried home drunk off their asses."

"I guess you'll have to wait and see." She said playfully. "Don't get your hopes up too high. My guess is that you'll do something stupid, way before I do." My guess was the same.

…

Quinn's POV

I felt like God. Well maybe not God, but I was at least at Jesus level. Coach gave me a shout out in the locker room, and I felt like the team hero. Everyone cheered including Rebecca and that meant something. I was the first one out of the showers because I was in a hurry to go and talk to Santana, but Rebecca was quick to follow me out.

"Hey, frosh, there's a party at Michelle's dorm tonight. It's a team thing, bring your hot friend…oh and tell the drunk one she can tag along too." I nodded and pulled on my tank top and pants.

"I'll see if they want to go." I said before I exited the locker room only to be met by Santana and Claire right outside.

"Yo home girl, you got game." Santana said before wrapping me into a hug.

"I know, I know, I put the team on my back." I joked before tossing Santana my duffle bag and making her carry it. "So we're going to a party tonight."

"Yea, Marley invited us already. I'm so down." Santana said with a smile forming on her face. "She said it was in the senior complex, I'm damn excited."

"There's gonna be boys there!" Claire shouted as she grabbed onto Santana's arm for balance.

"Yay! Boys!" Santana yelled like she was just as excited as Claire was. I rolled my eyes and Santana nudged me as we continued walking. We got to our dorm room and I decided that we should just go to Santana's dorm room so that we could all change into party clothes.

Santana didn't give a shit about how she looked, and it sucked that I'll bet it'd work out in her favor. She wore grey sweat pants, and black and red _Jordan's_, with a fitted t-shirt, and a snapback on backwards.

Claire pulled on a strapless black dress, wore four inch heels, and added a little extra makeup. I for one, stuck with what I was wearing, only I traded my shirt for a sparkly silver one and put on lipstick and eyeliner. Once we were ready, we locked up and Santana led the way over to the senior complex.

"Quinn if you get wasted, I'm not babysitting you." Santana warned as we entered the building and started towards the elevator so we could get up to the third floor. Santana had her arm around Claire, so she wouldn't fall, and I was watching them and trying not to laugh at how drunk Claire already was.

We entered the room, and the music was already blaring. I wondered if the entire senior class was invited to this too, because there were a lot of people up here. Luckily, the entire team was together, over playing beer pong while a few of the other girls were sitting and cheering them on.

"Hey, you made it." Michele said handing me a drink. She looked over her shoulder at Santana and Claire. "You guys want something?" She asked.

"This one just needs a seat." Santana said as she settled Claire down in a chair. Michele nodded to a recliner and Santana immediately sat down, leaving me standing.

"Asshole." I said attempting to punch her shoulder. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down on top of her. I rolled my eyes, but decided to get comfortable, because at least I wasn't sitting on some sweaty jock.

"Quinn you said she wasn't your girl!" Rebecca said as she came over and handed a drink to Santana.

"She's not." I assured Rebecca. "She's just a slut." I got up and joined in on the beer pong game. I was a pro, and soon I was the only one relatively sober.

I left the table and returned to a spot near Santana. Marley was currently talking to her, and Claire had gone God knows where. I didn't know if I should leave them alone, I mean was this some sort of thing developing? "Hey dofus, how much did you drink?" I asked Santana. She was clearly drunk, but I think Marley was keeping her in check.

"A lot." Santana said with a goofy grin. "Let's go back to my dorm Quinnie bear." Santana said pulling me down on top of her again. She wrapped her arms protectively around my waist and kissed my shoulder.

"And you said I was a wreck when I was drunk." I told her. She phone buzzed and she reached into her pocket to get it. She looked to see who was calling and so did I.

It was Rachel.

"Don't answer that-." Santana practically threw me off her lap and stood up so she could leave the room and answer it. She was already covering her ear and saying something into her phone, and the only thing I could think of doing was follow her.

"…what? Rae? Of course…yea I can come and hang out…" I snatched the phone from Santana and held it up to my ear.

"Rachel, Santana's drunk she can't take you anywhere. Do you need a ride or something?" I asked.

"Yea, it's getting late and dancers don't know when to go home. I went out with Brittany and Charlie, and they both want to stay." Rachel said with a small laugh. "And…I sort of don't want to do anything stupid tonight."

"So you called Santana?" I asked her skeptically.

"Good point." Rachel said.

"Hey, I'll come get you, just stay where you are." I told her. "And next time you're in trouble, call me instead. Santana would've driven drunk for you, and she probably would've died."

**Thanks for reading guys, review please.**

**Next chapter: Santana's run with Marley, Charlie meets the boss, Kitty's persistent, and Quinn doesn't back down.**


	3. I've Heard About You

Charlie's POV

"I'm very proud of you Charlie." I smiled as I carried Rachel's duffle bag over my shoulder while we walked to the bookstore. I called just like Marley suggested and her father, Mr. Rose, told me to come by and check the place out. He made it sound like I would be hired without much consideration, and Rachel agreed to come with me to make sure things weren't too sketchy.

I would've invited Britt, but she has a late rehearsal tonight. "Thanks Rachel, I mean that's assuming I'm hired right away." Rachel nudged me as we got on the subway.

"You're a shoo-in, dork." I enjoyed hanging out with Rachel. She was very laid back, but sometimes I could tell that she was getting really passionate about something small, like a musical, or a simple walk in the park. She enjoyed New York, and I enjoyed sharing our experiences together. "So there are records here right?" She asked looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Of course! And comics too!" We tried to keep our nerd excitement down, but it was hard not to jump up and down for a few seconds together, even if half of the subway train was staring at us.

"Alert the media." I turned around only to be met by grey eyes and blonde hair of a girl dressed just like Rachel was. She wore grey sweatpants, had her hair up in a bun, and her eyes didn't leave Rachel for a second. "Rachel Berry gets around." Rachel laughed, but I just stood there uncomfortably. Was this a part of some inside joke? That girl had the same duffle bag with NYADA embroidered on it too, so she must be in Rachel's class.

Why was she smiling so goddamn much? Why wasn't Rachel scuffing and stomping her foot on the ground. "This is my friend Charlie." Rachel said, I held out my hand and the girl shook it, looking disinterested as she did so. I felt like she was sizing me up as if I was her competition.

"Hi Charlie, I'm Kitty." She said with a fake smile. "I'm in Rachel's dance class. She's a fantastic dancer." I thought about rolling my eyes but decided against it. Rachel just stood there smiling, and I felt like I was going to hurl.

"Charlie's girlfriend, Brittany, she's phenomenal…when's her first recital?" Rachel inquired.

"Next weekend…her parents are coming here to watch too." I responded. "You have to go, it's super informal, like they make the freshman do hip-hop and jazz routines. It'll be great…" I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. "Hold on." I said holding up my finger while I looked down to see who'd texted me.

[From Quinn]: _Bitches be crazy_

[To Quinn]: _On a scale of 1 to fucked up, how drunk are you?_

[From Quinn]: _I'm not, I was just speaking the truth. P.S. You're helping me write my history paper._

[To Quinn]: _I hate you._

[From Quinn]: _I love you too!_

I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to Kitty and Rachel who were conversing right in front of me. I thought about taking a seat, but we were only two stops away from our destination and it's not like I wasn't entertained by this new little development. So this girl totally had the hots for Rachel. Could she make it a little more obvious? "This is our stop Rachel." I said linking our arms and waving goodbye to Kitty, as Rachel shouted out something along the lines of _see you tomorrow and coffee sounds fine_ as we left the subway train.

I didn't stop pulling Rachel along until we were standing on the sidewalk looking around for an address. "Jeez what's your rush?" Rachel said pulling her arm out of my grips.

"Um sorry I didn't want to stick around to see you and that Kitty chick fuck." Rachel glared at me, but that would never work with me. Rachel and I could be honest with one another, that's how things worked now.

"Charlie! You must be joking." I stared at Rachel until she was forced to cover her face and shake her head emphatically. "No, absolutely not."

"That girl wants to get in your pants, that's all I'm saying." I started. "And you know what, if that's what you want then go for it, by all means. A hookup or whatever is what people do in college. Have fun, you know." Rachel seemed to ponder the thought for a second.

"It's complicated." It wasn't complicated, Santana had broken Rachel's heart, Rachel deserved to have fun. That seemed pretty simple to me. "Is this it?" I looked up at the sign that read: _Rose's Bookstore_, and smiled at Rachel. I held the door open for her and she walked in first, making a beeline for the front counter. "Mr. Rose? Hi I'm Rachel Berry and this is Charlie Fabray." I felt like she was my mom, introducing me to one of her co-workers. Rachel could be annoyingly assertive like that sometimes, and it was overwhelming.

I shook Mr. Rose's hand, trying to gage what kind of guy he was completely based on the firmness of this handshake. He was strong, and he had a tattoo on his arm, but I couldn't quite read it. His eyes were brown and his hair was a healthy shade of grey. Nothing about him was dull, but I could tell that he wasn't just some pushover.

"Hi Rachel and Charlie. Now, Marley has already told me about you Charlie, so I'll just let you look around right now for a bit. Get a good feel of the space; I've got records in the back." Rachel was already grabbing my hand and pulling me to the back section, going straight to the _B's_. I assumed she was looking for a Barbra record.

"He seems really nice." She said as she handed me _Abby Road_ by the Beatles. I smiled because I know this meant that Rachel would be coming over to my place, just to listen to my record player. "He just looked at you and his eyes lit up, that seems like a good sign."

"Maybe my hair freaked him out." I said nonchalantly.

"Doubtful, my son once shaved his name into his head." I spun around a little shocked that Mr. Rose was standing right there. I didn't even hear him approaching. "Did I scare you?"

"No I don't scare easily." I told him.

"That's good because this place has been known to have some supernatural activity going on." I just stared while Rachel practically beamed at what Mr. Rose said.

"Sweet!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Relax Charlie I'm just joking." Mr. Rose said easing my worry a little bit. "Oh and…congratulations on getting the job, you'll probably hate me within a week."

…

Rachel's POV

I loathed the coed bathrooms. I always felt like I needed to hide my body, always. It was uncomfortable when I brushed my teeth and guy would stand next to me shaving. It was gross in all seriousness, I didn't care that most of the guys were gay, or that many of them were respectful, I still wished I was on an all girls floor.

"Hey." I looked over at the charming looking guy, wearing a tank top and boxers. I felt like rolling my eyes but instead I smiled and gave him a nod before I wiped my face and began combing my hair. "You're a freshmen right?"

"Yea." I said trying to rush my routine so I wouldn't have to talk to this guy.

"I'm Brody, I'm a junior…the RA on this floor actually." I shook his hand and decided that it would be best to just be nice to him.

"I'm Rachel." I said.

"I've heard about you. Cassandra likes to talk about any and everyone in the dancing seminar 3 class. You're lucky though, if she hates you it means she thinks you have potential." He explained.

"Lucky me." I said sarcastically.

"By the way I'm not gay." My eyes shot up, and I tried not to look at him like he was crazy. Who just says something like that? I wondered if he had a filter, or if he was just that forward. "I mean…I dance and sing, but I'm not…okay I sound like an idiot now, don't I?"

"Yea a little bit." I told him truthfully.

"I'm not really suck a loser, it's just…your eyes-."

"Brody she's not interested, move on." I spun around only to see Kitty walking into the bathroom, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. She gave me a wink before standing in front of Brody just staring at him like he was going to walk away at any moment.

And he did.

Once he left the room, Kitty turned and faced me with a smirk. "I hope you weren't into him." Kitty said as she pulled out her comb.

"No, I mean he seemed like an okay guy, but I'm not interested."

"Hmm…he's a sleaze." Kitty said watching me for a moment before she looked back towards the mirror. "Unless that's your thing." I didn't know how to read Kitty. I mean she seemed sort of cocky, but also like she was looking out for me. She flirted with me a lot, but maybe that was just her way of being friendly.

"I don't get you." I said boldly. I put down my comb, took a step closer to her, and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What's not to get?" She said with a shrug.

"Did you just tell that guy to back off because you're into him?" I questioned trying to analyze her motives.

"I'd rather be _in_ you then _with_ him." Kitty said with a cocky grin.

"You're so full of yourself." I said with a sigh, I was already walking out of the bathroom when I heard footsteps behind me. She reached out and grabbed my hand before I could open my dorm door. "The dramatic hand grab, how original." I couldn't tell if I liked her or hated her at this point. She was sort of endearing in an annoying sort of way.

"Hey if you didn't like me you would've told me to back off, so don't try and pretend, okay?" I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "I thought you liked the aggressive type, but I can be sweet too."

"Can you?" I asked. She held my hand up to her lips and kissed it, giving me a cheesy sort of grin back.

"That coffee date? Let's make it dinner and something special." She offered.

"Is that something special a surprise?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes of course."

"What do I wear?" I asked before she could walk away.

"A dress, one of those cute summery ones that I know you have." She told me. "I'll pick you up at 8, don't keep me waiting."

I still didn't know or at least I still couldn't tell whether I liked or hated Kitty.

…

Quinn's POV

"Get on the goddamn floor and give me twenty Fabray!" I was glaring at her, Rebecca had been on my back all week, and this was pushing me over the edge. I think she was pissed that I outplayed her in the scrimmage, but I didn't give two fucks about what she was mad about, I wasn't going to let her push me around.

These were senior run practices which meant they got to decide when we ran or did jumping jacks, but right now they were singling me out. "Keep pushing me and I swear I'm gonna knock you the fuck out!" So I may spend way too much time with Santana, but this time it was a good thing.

"What'd you just say freshmen?!" Rebecca barked out.

"I think you heard me." Marley came out of nowhere, grabbing my arm and pulling me off the field. I didn't protest, because I knew it was probably a good idea. Marley didn't let go of my arm until we were in the locker room. "Thanks."

"For what?" Marley asked with an amused smirk on her face.

"For not letting me punch Rebecca in the face." I responded.

"I didn't realize you were a hothead." Marley said tossing me my duffle bag so I could change into my street clothes. We both knew there was no way I was going back out to practice.

"Yea I didn't realize that either." I said pulling on my pants. "I'm not usually like that, just when I think someone's trying to take advantage of me. I've been told that I'm sort of a control freak." Marley took a seat on the bench between the two rows of lockers.

"It's about time that someone put Rebecca in her place." She said with a shrug.

"Yea but now I'll probably be benched." I said frowning as I pulled on a t-shirt over my mesh sports tank. "Wanna grab lunch?"

"Sure, is it okay for us to swing by my dad's bookstore first?" Marley asked.

"Sure, let's go."

…

From now on I'm actually going to listen to Charlie when she's talking because if I had listened to her I would've known she was working here. I would've been able to do a little more than just laugh when I saw her shelving books when we walked in. "Oh this is just golden." I said pulling out my phone and snapping a quick picture of Charlie's unamused face.

"Quinn, I'm trying to work, why are you even here?" She asked stepping down off the ladder and walking over to the front counter.

"Marley had to get something." I explained. "We're getting lunch."

"What's her deal?" Charlie asked as she looked at a clipboard and wrote down some things for what I think was inventory.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"What do you think I mean?" Charlie replied. "I mean is she chill?"

"Obviously, why else would I hang out with her?" I questioned with a smirk playing on my face. "Why? I can tell from the look on your face that you think something's up with her, so spill."

"I don't have a look." Charlie said defensively.

"Yea you do asshole." I told her before snatching the pen out of her hand. "You don't like her."

"I never said that!" Charlie exclaimed. She moved in closer to me. "But…I think she's got something to hide."

"So? Everyone does." Charlie didn't respond so I took a look around. Charlie followed me to the records section and watched me look through things as if I was going to break something. "There are no Barbra records, did you take Rachel here?"

"Yep she raided the place two days ago." Charlie said with a smile. "Britt came by earlier between her ballet classes to give me lunch. She gave me pb&j."

"You guys are sickening." I told Charlie as Marley came out of the back offices with a smile on her face. Her father, I'm presuming, was right behind her.

"Hi there, I'm Mr. Rose." I shook his hand and gave him a warm smile.

"I'm Quinn." I said.

"Charlie why didn't you tell me you had a more presentable relative, I would've hired her instead." I didn't know if I should laugh so I just looked over at Charlie who'd already cracked a smile. It was evident to me that Charlie and Mr. Rose had been getting along so far, and they were clearly comfortable enough to make jokes about one another.

"Dad, please limit your insults to people who can't sue us." Marley warned with a pat on her father's shoulder.

"No please continue insulting her, it'll keep a steady balance while I'm in class." I told him.

"You ready to go Quinn?" Marley asked.

"Yep." I said cheerfully. "See ya Charles." Charlie rolled her eyes and waved goodbye just before we made it out to the sidewalk.

…

Santana's POV

"Keep up scrub." I yelled over my shoulder as Marley trailed me into the park. She was quick, and I knew that her ACL injury was fully healed. I wasn't going to let her beat me though, I wanted to show her up a little bit, just to make her feel slightly overwhelmed.

"You're a damn bullet." She said as I slowed my pace and let her keep in stride with me. "Let's get a drink." She said as we rounded a corner and made it to a public drinking fountain. She got a drink first; I couldn't help but find myself watching her for awhile. She was adorable, her soccer shorts and t-shirt made it very clear that she was in shape. I liked the way her hair bounced up and down in her ponytail as she moved.

I took a sip of water and turned back towards her. "When will I see you back on the field?" I asked her.

"Hopefully within the next two weeks." She said with a smile. "Are you going to come to a lot of our games?" She asked with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"Of course, I've gotta support my girl Quinnie Bear." I said playfully.

"Oh that reminds me, I met Quinn's twin yesterday, she seems great. The pink hair is a nice touch. It's wonderful that she's working for my dad." I didn't know if I was supposed to be surprised or not. I knew Charlie was looking for a job, but I didn't know that she'd found one, let alone that she's working for Marley's dad.

"Charlie and I are sort of at odds right now." I explained.

"Oh, is that weird since you're so close to Quinn?" Marley asked.

"Nah I mean…Charlie and I will figure things out, we're just both kinda hard headed." I told her truthfully. "But what about you? I know you're a sweetheart, but tell me something…anything." We found ourselves drifting towards a park bench. I sat down first and Marley quickly followed.

"I'm not good at this, tell me what you want to know?"

"Why didn't you drink at the party?" I asked her, expecting her to fumble with her answer, but she didn't.

"I was actually trying to protect you, a few of the girls would've killed to take you home, and I didn't want you to do anything that you might regret later." I sort of just wanted to hug her right now. Who was actually this sweet?

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Um…haha." She blushed and nodded, keeping her gaze down. "I have 6 brothers." My mouth nearly hit the ground, but Marley's smile quickly made me rethink my reaction. "I know it's kind of crazy, I'm the youngest, they're all lunatics, it goes with the territory. What about you?"

"I have an older sister, she actually lives in New York, her name is Olivia. Oh…what are your brothers' names?"

"Mark, Michael, Martin, Maison, Malcom, and Matt…the 'm' thing is sort of a generational tradition." She seemed kind of shy about it, so I didn't ask what her parents names were.

"What's your major?" I asked.

"Sociology, but it'll probably change about thirty times before I graduate." She said with a grin.

"What's your favorite show?" I asked.

"Oh that's an easy one, Law and Order SVU." I smiled because I'd spent about half of ninth grade watching as many episodes of that show as I could. I even watch the marathons by myself when they come on. "Is this a game of twenty questions?"

"Have I reached my twentieth?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

"No, keep going." She said with a slight glint in her eyes. I could tell she enjoyed the attention and I made sure that I kept eye contact with her the whole time.

"Do you find Quinn attractive?" I asked, blatantly catching her off guard just for the fun of it.

"Yes…s-she's cute." Marley said.

"What about me, am I cute?" I purposefully didn't let her answer. Instead I jumped up to my feet and started jogging away, she had no other option but to follow.

…

"Rachel…uh hi, I didn't know you'd be-…" I looked around, expecting Brittany to walk out of the dance studio now so I wouldn't have to make small talk with Rachel. She already looked uncomfortable and I knew it was because we hadn't talked in awhile. "Are you and B practicing together?" I asked.

"Yea, Brittany comes to this studio with me and a few other dancers from my class. It's a lot of fun." Rachel explained. I leaned up against the doorframe and smiled at Rachel remember the times when she'd asked for my advice on dancing in high school.

"If I had known you were gonna be here I would've invited you to the movies with us." I told Rachel.

"No you wouldn't have." Rachel said looking down at her shoes. "I want things to be okay with us, but…we both know it's not."

"Hey you!" I turned around just in time to see some blonde approaching. "Is there a problem here?" The girl had her arm around Rachel's shoulder, rubbing her back like it was her damn job.

"Excuse me, who are you?" I asked her.

"I'm Rachel's friend, who the hell are you?" She replied harshly.

"I'm Santana, I'm her friend too, and nothing's wrong. We were just talking." Brittany skipped out of the studio and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Sanni!" She exclaimed. I hugged her back and took her duffle bag out of her hands so I could carry it.

"Bye Rachel and bye…"

"Kitty." The girl said with a fake smile.

"Yea, bye Kitty." I said giving her a cold glare. "I'll see you around."

**I've got three words: Pezberry is endgame.**


	4. Get Up

**So as I was writing this chapter I realized two things: I enjoy writing angry Quinn and I enjoy writing fight scenes. This chapter has both, enjoy.**

Santana's POV

I had no idea why Quinn was making me come to this party too. I mean, sure she won and scored two goals, even while she was coming off the bench instead of starting, but that didn't mean I wanted to party. This time I left my roommate at home and picked up Brittany on my way to some frat house that was hosting the party. She seemed excited even though she was sad that she missed the actual game, she still made Quinn cookies and demanded that we drop them off to Quinn's dorm room first, which I did with a lot of protest still left in my body.

"Britt, do you have your license with you?" I asked her. She looked over at me with an arched eyebrow and all I could do in response was laugh because we both knew what I was saying.

"How messed up do you plan on getting?" She asked as a laugh escaped her lips. "I can't DD, we'll just leave the car there and take the subway if it comes to that." Brittany and I, both knew that it would in fact come to that.

"Let's find Quinn first." I told Brittany when we arrived. Brittany grabbed my hand and lead me to a large patio where the majority of the field hockey team was. Quinn was talking to that taller girl, Rebecca, I think her name was, and they did not look like they were having a friendly conversation.

"…oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were the leading scorer on this team." Quinn pondered what she'd just said for a second and then snapped her eyes back to face Rebecca. "Oh wait, you're not." I scuffed a laugh and went over to the table that was out there and grabbed two beers, handing Brittany one of them as we watched Quinn.

"If Quinn gets into a fight will you take out my earrings for me?" Brittany whispered in my ear as we watched. I nodded and took a sip of beer. Not many people knew Brittany as a fighter, and neither did I, until that one day where she punched that girl at the ice skating rink because the girl was ripping on her mom. It was the most entertaining and shocking moment in my entire life.

"Listen freshmen, I'm getting real tired of your shit, okay? I don't need your back talk-." I was done with listening to them argue. Quinn would beat the shit out of this girl and I didn't want to deal with cops tonight.

"Hey, hey ladies, come on. Give peace a chance." I said stepping in between them. "And besides I think I just did you a favor, Quinn Fabray is not one to be messed with." I informed Rebecca who rolled her eyes but backed off the nonetheless. Quinn smiled when she saw me and grinned even bigger when Brittany ran over and gave her a big hug.

"Nice stunt." Quinn said nodding towards me.

"What stunt? You could take her." I assured Quinn, who did nothing in response except take my beer out of my hands and drink some. "Good game, I saw you tug that girl to the ground by the way. That sweet face of yours doesn't fool me." Quinn put on her most innocent face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said nudging me. "Hey are you driving back? If so stop eyeing that table filled with delicious alcohol." I shook my head no before grabbing a cup and filling it with a special mix of booze that Puck showed me junior year.

"No we might take the subway back, San, give your keys to someone." Brittany told me. I looked around at the crowd of people 90% of which were tripping over their own shoelaces. I decided to head inside the house to look for someone I knew.

I was lucky to run into Marley, except I wished I didn't actually run into her and spill half of her drink on her t-shirt. "Shit, I'm sorry." I said even though she'd already begun giggling.

"Hey, don't worry about it." She said looking down at her shirt and then back up at me. "I've got a spare in my car, I'll just go get it." She said turning around. I followed her outside.

"I'll just go with you." I said as we headed down the street. She probably parked so far away because she didn't want some drunk kid accidently crash into her car. "To protect you." I said jokingly. I was lucky she laughed because I hoped she didn't expect me to do any protecting in my tipsy state.

"Is Quinn still arguing with Rebecca?" Marley asked once we'd reached her car. She went to her drunk and pulled out a black duffle bag. She grabbed a t-shirt out.

"Nah, I told them both to cool it." I said nonchalantly. I was going to add that Quinn was very ready and very capable of kicking some ass, but Marley pulled her shirt over her head and I completely lost my train of thought.

"Could you keep a lookout?" She said as she struggled slightly with putting on my shirt. I didn't take my eyes off her body for the entire time. She did more than just run; she must do crunches everyday, maybe twice a day. "I meant keep a lockout _around_ me." She said with a knowing smile, immediately followed by a blush.

I was too tipsy to care that she'd caught me. "Oh I almost forgot." I pulled my keys out of my pocket and dangled them in front of her. "There's a pretty big chance that I won't be driving tonight, and you're the only one I trust with these." She nodded and took my keys, putting them into her pocket.

"You wanna go back?" Marley asked. I nodded and finished the rest of my unintentionally large cup of alcohol and walked side-by-side with Marley back to the house. "Um, can you promise me something?" Sure Marley was probably the chillest girl on the team, but promises were sort of intense at this stage.

"I guess it depends." I told her honestly.

"Just…if you're going to hook up with someone don't let it be those senior girls from the team." She was looking directly into my eyes and even though I wanted to, I didn't look away.

"So the team's off limits?" I asked her.

"I didn't say everyone." I didn't get a chance to ask her what she meant by that, because in walk the last person I wanted to see.

Charlie.

…

Charlie's POV

I was only here to congratulate my sister on her win and take Brittany home afterwards. The truth was I was sort of tired from work and I really really wanted to avoid seeing Santana. So of course, as soon as I walked in I would run into her. "Hey, look what the cat dragged in." She said smirking when she saw me. She was drunk.

"Drunk? Already? Fucking classy." I snarked. "Hey Marley." I said giving the confused looking girl a small smile.

"Hi." Marley said.

"Who invited you Charlie? Get your girl and head the fuck home." Santana said before trying to brush past me. She shoved her shoulder into mine but I stopped her and grabbed her arm. I was not one to take her shit, especially not tonight.

"You can't tell me what to do, I'm not Rachel." Santana was in my face before I knew it.

"What'd you just say?" She was getting louder, and it was evident to me that she was not above punching me right now. "You wanted a problem, then you got one. You want me to beat your ass here or what?" She'd already shoved me back and it took about everything for me not to push her back.

"Calm down." I told her grabbing her arm and pulling her outside of the house. I knew that move was risky, but I also knew that she wasn't going to hit me in front of everyone and probably not Marley either.

As soon as we hit the pavement of the sidewalk she was shoving me away. "Would you calm down?!" I snapped at her.

"Charlie I told you before, I'm done with you. I don't want to talk, I don't want to listen, I don't want anything from you." I was slightly impressed that she could form full sentences even in her drunken state.

"Why are you acting like such an idiot? Because I said something about Rachel?" When she swiped at my face I was surprised. The cut below my eye felt like a bullet had grazed my face. I hit the pavement hard and Santana just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Get up." She deadpanned.

"Why?" I asked her from where I was laying on the ground below her.

"So I can hit you again." She said nonchalantly. "Unless you want to get one in." She held her hand out for me to take, which against my better judgment, I took. "Come on hit me, make my day." I rolled my eyes. She sounded like a middle scholars jonesing for a fight.

"I'm not gonna hit you." I told her.

"Oh really? You're not?" Santana said with a laugh. "I always knew you were a bitch." I wasn't falling for it. We were friends, we just had some dumb fight and then we started hating everything about each other. It was so juvenile. "I'm just gonna head inside. I'll just take Britt home myself. You know how she gets when she's drunk, horny and handsy, maybe I'll get lucky." When I hit her, I felt like such a sellout. I also felt Santana's blood on my right knuckle and it disgusted me. I was more squeamish than I let on. "Shit." I said holding onto my hand.

"Ow! Fuck my mother!" Santana yelled holding onto her nose. "You broke it you prick.!"

"You baited me!" I reminded her.

"And if I jumped off a goddamn bridge would you do it?" She asked sitting down on the curb, but kept her hand over her nose.

"Just to spite you? Yes I would." I assured her before sitting down next to her. "Let me see that." I pulled her hand away from her face and looked at her nose. It wasn't broken, just bloody. "Stop being a baby all you have to do is wipe your stupid face off, I probably need stitches." I informed her.

"Oh cry me a river drama queen, try you need a band aid." She said nudging my shoulder. We were silent for awhile, both thinking about what just happened. "So we're friends again right?" Of fucking course we were, was that even a question? All we had was pent up frustration and that was it. I missed Santana, and clearly, she missed me.

"Yep." I said with a smile. I stood up and reached down to pull Santana to her feet. "So uh…what's our story?" I asked. Brittany and Quinn would be all over us about what happened. If we were lucky, Marley hadn't already told them about us arguing. "We both tripped?" I suggested.

"Yea and hit our faces on concrete because we forgot how to use our arms to break the fall? I don't think so." Santana explained. "How about someone tried to steal your purse?" I glared at Santana for that. Anyone in their right mind knows I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a purse.

"Okay, no…I got this, let's be rational. When we go back inside, Quinn's gonna be smashed, she won't ask about it, we'll just tell Brittany that we were trying to see who could hold a handstand the longest and we fell." Santana thought about it for a moment.

"Alright, chill." She said in agreement. "Now let's go scarface."

…

Rachel's POV

"You look hot." Kitty whispered in my ear as she walked by me in the dorm room hall. I froze and turned around following her with my eyes until she turned into my room. What the hell was she doing?

First, I didn't look hot or cute, my hair was up in a bun and I was wearing pajama pants and a tank. I was only going to throw something in the garbage can in the bathroom before I went back into my room and went to bed.

Which brings me back to the question: what the hell was she doing?

I tossed the broken cup into the trash and rushed back to my room to find Kitty laying, stomach down, on my bed. In a twist of dramatic irony, which I can only disregarded as blind luck, my roommate moved out last week, which left me alone. It meant two things: I could practice vocals whenever I wanted and I could go to bed whenever I wanted.

"What are you doing?" I asked her with my hands on my hips.

"Watching you do that cute pouty thing you always do when you want to get your way." She said with a cocky grin. "How'd you sleep last night?" She asked randomly. I walked over and sat down on my bed cross-legged.

"Decent I guess." I replied. "What about you?" I assumed there was a point to her question. Kitty always had a point.

"Eh, without a goodnight kiss my sleeping is always mediocre." How could I not smile at that? She was sort of ridiculous and open about absolutely everything.

"Are you asking me to kiss you Kitty Wilde?" I questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"No, no of course not." She said sitting up so that we were eye to eye. "But if _I _were to kiss _you_, would you object?" Her eyes travelled down to my lips. She was moving closer and I had no idea if I wanted her to kiss me until she was and then, by God, I wanted her to kiss me.

I had no clue what she was doing with her tongue but it felt good, and even with my inhibitions I still found myself letting her grab my ass as she grabbed my legs and tugged me closer to her. I moaned into her mouth when her fingers grazed over my clit and even though my body was abso-fucking-lutely screaming yes, I knew it was a bad idea.

"Kitty…hey wait." I told her holding onto her shoulders, forcing her to back off. "Sorry, but…I'm not ready for this." I told her. Kitty's eyes softened and she nodded her hand in understanding.

"Hey that's cool with me." She assured me. "I'll see you in class tomorrow. Sleep tight, okay?" I nodded and she smiled. "Goodnight."

…

I'd already stubbed my toe trying to get the phone that I conveniently put at the father point away from me. I rushed past my desk and answered the call. "Hello?" I realized that I hadn't checked to see who it was so I'd probably be one of my friends. And they'd probably be drunk and need a ride home.

"Hey Rach!" It was Kurt and he sounded incredibly excited. Well at least it sounded like he was excited, it was three in the morning, so a creak in the night sounded excited to me. "Guess what!"

"It's three in the morning?" I asked.

"I thought you were on college time." Kurt said.

"You watch too many teen dramas and besides I had a late night yesterday." I explained to him.

"A late night, huh?" He said. Of course even at three in the morning, Kurt Hummel would be ready and prying for gossip. I really had been worried about Kurt. He was spending his time searching for a job in New York from the day we graduated until now with no avail. He needed some spark in his life and all he was getting was my boring gossip then he would crack soon. "What does that mean?"

"I had a date." I informed him.

"Santana?!" He squealed into the phone so loudly that I put the receiver to my left side instead of my right in order for my right ear to heal.

"No, her name is Kitty and she's a junior at NYADA." I told him.

"Kitty? Sounds like a slut." He said so nonchalantly that I almost felt like my mouth shouldn't be agape, but it was. "Anyway, back to my good news. I'm moving to New York!" He exclaimed. Now I was fully awake and screaming along with Kurt.

"What?! Really?! This is so amazing! Where are you staying? What are you doing-."

"Hold your horses Berry." Kurt said clearing his throat. "Anywho, Charlie was the one who finally convinced me to go. I've got enough money to stay in the same apartment building as Charlie and Britt for a few months, but I figure I'm gonna work my way up to _Vogue _somehow." If anyone could do it, it was Kurt. He had so much drive and passion I knew he could make it.

"I'm so happy right now." I told him.

"Are you crying?" He asked with a little laugh afterwards. I wiped my eyes and laughed too.

"Um…sorta."

"_New York New York, my little town blues are slipping away_." He sang softly into the phone. "I'll call you tomorrow with deets, love you Rach."

"I love you too Kurt."

…

Quinn's POV

"This is fucking bullshit!" I yelled slamming my paper down at the lunch table. Santana and Marley both looked up, but the rest of my team didn't pay it much attention. Santana had sort of been adopted onto our team at this point and no one objected when she ate lunch with us anymore.

"Alert! Alert! Quinn is on her period." Santana joked getting a firm smack on her arm from me as I sat down across from her.

"What'd you get on your paper?" I asked Santana. She looked up at me and shook her head no. "What? Come on! Tell me!" I demanded.

"97." She said quietly.

"Percent?!" I yelled this time the entire table turned and looked at me.

"Unless there's another form of measurement used in grading…" Santana's sarcasm was never more annoying than when she did something amazing and she was nonchalant about it. I thought about punching her but then I decided I wouldn't want to get thrown off the team.

"Wow Santana, a 97 on an essay? That's really impressive." Marley said.

"Shut the fuck up Marley!" It wasn't in a crude way and thankfully Marley understood that because I didn't need anyone encouraging Santana. "I got an 81%, I'm gonna rip your throat out."

"The hostility it hurts." Santana deadpanned as she dramatically put her hand over her heart. "You want help on your next paper Fabray?"

"As if I would ask you for help."

"You didn't ask, I'm just offering." Santana said with a smile. "Oh please stop being so prideful, it's tacky."

"I loathe you." I told her tossing a fry at her face which she caught in her mouth with a grin. "So when's Olivia coming to look at our rooms?" I asked Santana. Marley looked between Santana and I, apparently impressed by how quickly we were able to turn our conversation from hostile to friendly. "I should straighten my hair."

"Why does it sound like you have a crush on my sister?" Santana questioned.

"She's cuter than you." I informed Santana who opened her mouth in fake astonishment. Marley giggled at Santana's expression while I just smiled. "Oh please, I'm joking. She is nicer to me than you are though."

"I'm only mean to you because I love you Quinnie bear." I blushed when half of the table turned and looked at us announcing 'aww' to the entire cafeteria.

"Did you just say the _l _word?" Rebecca asked Santana who looked like she was having a good time messing with their heads.

"I should get going." Santana said avoiding Rebecca's question. Santana stood and walked over kissing me on the forehead before she left. I was definitely going to kick her ass when I got back to the dorm room.

"You guys are cute." Michelle said with a look of jealousy across her face. "Although I think she could do better."

"Santana and I are most definitely not a thing." I informed everyone at the table. Suddenly Marley stood up with her tray, bending down and grabbing her duffle bag. "Hey, where are you going?" I asked her. Normally we walked over to the field together, why was she leaving now.

"I just…I g-gotta go." Marley said before hurrying out of the lunchroom.

"Why are you trying to hide that you and Santana are dating? She's hot, Fabray. Seriously, I would have a goddamn threesome with you two if it meant I could tap that sexy Latina ass." Rebecca said getting high fives from the other upperclassmen.

"I think I'm going to vomit." I said rolling my eyes before picking up my tray and clearing it off before heading to the fields.

**Review for more. **


	5. Hey Stranger

**Long time no update. Enjoy.**

Rachel's POV

I ran and jumped into his arms, for a moment, I thought for sure we were going to flal over, but Kurt supported me just fine. He grabbed my hand, and we headed towards the sidewalk. "My stuff will be here in a few days. You should've seen my dad before I left it was a sob fest, for both of us." I could only imagine. My father's last visit was two weeks ago, and they hadn't been overbearing like I'd expected them to be. My independence was one of their goals in life so I guess that work out just fine.

"This city is amazing." I told Kurt. Even though I'd been here for a couple of weeks, the beauty of New York still stunned me. "Can we go out tonight?! Just to a bar, get some free drinks maybe?" Kurt clasped his hands together and squealed.

"Of course! My apartment is pretty sparse from what I've seen so far, so I'd like to spend the least amount of time as possible sleeping on my couch." Kurt explained. "I owe Charlie big time for getting my stuff and working with Santana to move the couch and everything else in. They're life savers."

"Santana helped?" I asked Kurt. I was surprised to say the least. I didn't really think that Santana and Kurt stayed in touch that much. Kurt smiled and handed me his pullover bag so he could fix his scarf.

"Santana's been a doll, Charlie may have convinced me to move out here, but Santana's the one who actually did all the dirty work." Kurt explained as he grabbed his bag once again. "So where are we going?" Kurt asked.

"Well first to my dorm I need to change clothes, and then to a place called _Defiance_. You'll love it, sometimes it's flashy and over the top, but a ton of kids from NYADA hang out there, and maybe you can meet some of my classmates." Kurt did seem excited so I didn't want to burden him by talking about my problems. My main problem being Kitty and what to do with her. "Did I tell you about the guy who was hitting on me from school?"

"Oh do tell." Kurt said as we entered the dorm room.

"There's not really much to tell. He was a tool, and he was so weird, he flat out said he wasn't gay as if I was even interested in him." I said with a sigh. "People here are incredibly forward." I explained as we stepped onto the elevator.

"Like this Kitty girl?" Kurt asked. "What's her deal? Do I get to meet her?" I had no idea if I wanted any of my friends meeting her. With the way she sized up Charlie and Santana, it didn't seem like she was good at making first impressions.

"I bet she's dark and mysterious." Kurt said zoning out a little bit.

"She's blond." I told him. His hand went to his heart and he gasped.

"Blond? That's just terrifying." I knew he was joking so I refrained from smacking him. We arrived on my floor and we went to my dorm room. I made a beeline for my closet and Kurt sat down on my bed. "Oh go skinny jeans; I cannot risk you looking better than me on our first night out together." I rolled my eyes but I was content with listening to Kurt.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked Kurt as I pulled my shirt on over my head.

"Apparently I'm going out to dinner with Brittany and Charlie." Kurt said with a shrug. "Let me ask you something, and you have to be totally honest."

"Uh oh." I muttered, I did not like the sound of this.

"Have you been avoiding Santana? I mean it must be weird at some level, but is it possible for you two to hang out."

"I mean we have before. But it certainly is sort of weird. I'm not avoiding her, but I don't go out of my way to see her." I explained. I didn't really want to talk about this anymore, so when there was a knock at my door, I was relieved.

I opened the door and in walked Kitty. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Kurt sitting on my bed. "Oh I didn't realize you had company." She said. "I'm Kitty." She extended her hand and Kurt shook it.

"I'm Kurt, Rachel's friend from high school." Kurt explained. "This is my first night in New York; we're trying to make it memorable."

"I'm taking him to _Defiance_." I told Kitty.

"Oh good choice doll face. Got room for one more?" How could I say no to that?

"Only if you buy me drinks." I compromised. Kitty stood closer to me and wrapped her arm around my waist.

"I can barely handle you when you're sober." She joked.

"Ha ha." I said nudging her.

"Let me grab my keys, I'll meet you two downstairs." Kitty promised. The kiss on my cheek surprised me but all I could do was smile. Kurt and I exchanged glances before he spoke up again.

"So you're dating her?" Kurt asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Just hanging around, nothing more than that. She's sweet to me, and she's showing me the ropes, which has really saved my butt on more than one occasion. Is that a crime?" Of course, it wasn't actually a crime, but I could see the gears spinning in Kurt's head. He judged everyone, but that was just a part of his nature, so I wished he would just tell me what he really thought of Kitty.

"No, no." Kurt said with a smile. "Sounds like a keeper."

…

Quinn's POV

"Santana!" I yelled. Santana was holding her laptop bag and she turned around and jogged over to me. "Where are you going?" I asked her.

"To the library to study, what's up?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you'd come and lift with me." I said. I really couldn't take no for an answer at this point. We had a 5 am practice this morning and Rebecca tossed me to the ground. Lifting with the team wasn't enough, I had to get stronger by working out at other times. "Pretty please."

"Come on Q, can't you ask Marley or something?" I looked at Santana and frowned. Hadn't I told her about how weird Marley had been acting for the past few days? "I haven't seen her in a hot minute."

"I thought you guys ran every morning?" I asked.

"We did, but then she blew me off yesterday and the day before." Santana explained. I realized she didn't say yes to helping me work out, but we were already walking towards the sports complex. "Maybe she's helping out her dad at the bookstore? I mean we both know Charlie, maybe she like knocked down a couple of shelves in there or stabbed someone." I smiled and shoved Santana into the weight room.

"So why are you guys suddenly buddy-buddy again?" I asked Santana once I sat down and Santana got my weights ready. "I really hope you guys didn't hook up at that party last week." I scolded.

"Why? Would you be jealous?" Santana asked with a smirk on her face.

"I thought you were into me." I joked.

"I am." If I didn't have an 80 pound weight above my head I would've punched her. I was happy Santana was spotting me right now, because I was only able to do 7 reps at a time, not my normal 10.

"People actually think that you and I are a thing you know. I've been getting crap about it all week." I explained to Santana, as I took a sip of water. "After this let's go to my room." I told Santana after my next 7 reps.

"That's not really gonna help the rumors." Santana said pulling me up to my feet. "Can we watch _Pretty Little Liars_? Purty please." Santana said as I finished up and wiped down the machine.

"Since when are you into that show?" I asked her as we walked out of the weight room. "Oh right since you first laid eyes on Miss Emily Fields."

"Shay Mitchell yum yum yum." Santana said wrapping her arm around my shoulder. We were about to exit the sports complex when Santana stopped mid stride. "Hey stranger." I had to look down the hallway to even notice Marley sitting on a bench looking like she'd been waiting for awhile.

"Hi guys, did you just have a workout?" She asked.

"Quinn did, but we're going back to her place to have a little workout of our own if you know what I'm sayin-." I smacked Santana across the back of her head and she nearly tripped over her own feet as she continued laughing. "Hey why'd you bail on me with running? You want me to get out of shape?" Santana asked sliding over and sitting down on the bench next to Marley.

"No, of course not, I just had to take care of something with my brother." Santana looked over at me and smiled.

"Your brother? Which one?" Santana asked Marley.

"Matt." Marley said with a frown. "He's trying out for the USA National team for track. Kinda the star of the family." There was more to what Marley was saying but I had no idea what it was. I could see from Santana's half smile that she thought so too.

"Wanna come and watch Pretty Little Liars?" Santana asked.

"I can't, my mom's picking me up, we have a family dinner later tonight. Something fancy."

"Oh sounds fancy." I said with a grin. "For scientific purposes are any of your brothers hot slash around our age?" I asked Marley.

"I'll be sure to get a family picture tonight and send it to you." Marley promised.

"Catch you on the flip side _crutch_." Santana said giving Marley a salute.

"What'd I tell you about the nickname, Santana?" Marley said with a playful glare.

"That you love it!"

…

Charlie's POV

I waited at the bottom of the steps at Brittany's dance studio. I'd stopped waiting at the door when I realized that these people always stared at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world. I felt like a nobody every single time they looked right through me.

I always felt like a nobody, unless I was with Brittany.

"Hey." I said anticipating the hug that Brittany always gave me. This time she just grabbed onto my hand and we started walking without saying a word. Something was wrong, but she didn't want to talk about it.

We were supposed to go to Santana's dorm room so we could go _lens_ shopping with her. She'd just gotten a new camera, she wanted to get all the cool features, and Brittany loves helping Santana with things like that. Sometimes I felt like a third wheel with them because they'd been so close for so long and I was just sort of slipping in as of late.

I squeezed Brittany's hand once we got onto the subway and she looked up at me and sighed. I wanted her to talk but I wasn't going to force her. "I heard some girls talking today in class…they were saying things about Rosa Cohen." I didn't recognize the name but I figured Brittany must have mentioned her at least once before.

"What were they saying?" I asked Brittany.

"Saying things about her being Jewish and talking about her nose and…I just couldn't take it. I didn't know what to say to them so I didn't say anything." Brittany looked at me with those pleading eyes, begging me to say something to quell her worries.

I didn't know what to say.

I realize that once we'd moved to New York Brittany was suddenly dependent on me for the righteous thing to do. I had no idea why though. It's not like things changed, it's not like I'd suddenly gotten Christened or something, it was just something that I was hyper aware of and it scared me.

Brittany was the sweetheart. Brittany didn't need me to show her how to be a good person because she was already just that. "They're ignorant people-."

"Yea I know but…why should they be allowed to say those things? It isn't right, and you know, I think I'll tell them that next time I see them." Brittany had the best determined face in the planet. It was adorable and thrilling all at the same time. "I feel much better now." Brittany leaned over and kissed me on the lips. "Sorry, I'm neglecting you, how was your day at work?"

I thought back to my day with Mr. Rose. It was interesting, but how could it not be? Mr. Rose was probably the most interesting man in the world. He always surprised me with his sense of humor, and his vanity when talking about his life. He tried talking about his kids at one point, but then he just got frustrated and he stopped, that's when we started talking about politics.

"I got into an argument with Mr. Rose." I said with a small grin on my face.

"Charlie…I told you to be careful with your boss? You don't want to get fired." Brittany said with nudge against my shoulder. "But I'm happy that you're enjoying yourself." We got off at our stop and Brittany grabbed my hand again. "Call Santana and we'll tell her to come over and bring Kurt, we can watch movies together."

"Remember what happened last time Britt? You know you can't always get what you want. You have to let other people choose other movies if they want." I explained to Brittany who pouted and looked into my eyes.

"But…Charlie…"

"Brittany you bit Santana when she said she didn't want to watch _The Breakfast Club_." I reminded Brittany.

"Well she started it." Brittany said crossing her arms over her chest. Brittany took my phone out of my pocket and dialed Kurt's number. "Hi Kurt! You're doing what? Oh with Rachel…um we might show…okay, I'll text you later." Brittany hung up the phone and pushed it back into my back pocket.

"Is Kurt with Rachel?" I asked Brittany who nodded.

"He says he's going out to a club with Rachel and Kitty." Brittany said with a shrug. "What are you thinking?"

I was caught.

Now that Brittany read my facial expression, she wasn't going to let it go. "You'll get mad at me."

"Now that you're back on _Team Santana_ it doesn't mean that you can stop Rachel from being happy with whoever she wants to be with. It's not fair." Brittany warned.

"First of all I've always been on team Santana, and secondly, I was only going to say that Kitty was an interesting character." I said in defense.

"Aka you don't like her." Brittany said with a smug grin, just because she knew she was right. "You need to stop judging people _missy_."

"When pigs fly." I mumbled.

"Look up in the sky!" Brittany said and my eyes immediately went up. Brittany laughed and I blushed having been caught being a gullible dork. "Gotcha."

…

Santana's POV

"Hey." I said walking over and sitting down on the bench next to Marley. She was resting her leg, while the other girls ran through drills. Quinn of course was showing off and showing half the team up with her hard work and effort. That's my girl. "Why do I get the sense that you're avoiding me?" I asked her.

"I've been in my own world I…it's complicated." Marley said keeping her gaze on the field and off me. "Can I be honest with you?" She asked. Honesty never really was such a great thing in my opinion. It always changed things.

"Sure."

"I'm just going to come out and say it: I think what you're doing with Quinn is wrong. I know you two aren't dating but pretending like you are is fine until you start to actually develop feelings for her-."

"She's my best friend, and I was only doing that because-."

"You want someone by your side?" I didn't have to answer for her to know that she was right. "I get it." Marley said looking at me. "I get that someone broke your heart-."

"No I broke my own heart." I explained to her. "And you're right; I was using Quinn to keep everyone else at a distance. It was stupid of me." I told her.

"That's very big of you." Marley said giving me a warm smile. "Wanna help me take some of the equipment back inside?" I hated that some girls on the team were still treating Marley like she wasn't playing, but it was nice of her to continue helping out on the side. I grabbed the netted bag of field hockey balls, while wielding a field hockey stick in my left hand. Marley grabbed the empty containers of water and we headed back towards the locker room.

"I should get paid for this." I joked as I put the equipment I was holding up while Marley laughed. "You think I'm kidding?"

"You're cute, did you know that?" She said turning around and glancing over at the door. We were only a few feet away from one another, the equipment room wasn't that big.

"You're one to talk. Those big blue eyes of yours are amazing." She blushed and I figured I could really get used to that shyness of hers. "Sorry." I said shaking my head and looking down at my feet.

"It's fine." She said pushing her hair back behind her ear. "Um can I…" She pressed her lips to my cheek, and then pulled back, blushing again. "I promise I'm not usually such a dork."

"I like dorky." I said resting my hand against her collarbone. I don't know why but I felt like I was pulling her closer. There was clearly chemistry between us, and from the looks of it she clearly wanted to kiss me, but should I?

"Hey guys!" Quinn said stopping midstride once she saw my hand. She looked between Marley and I and cocked her head to the side. "I wasn't interrupting-."

"No, no." I told Quinn as I took a step away from Marley. "Let's get out of here."

**Next Chapter: Quinn's big game, which means everyone's going to be at the same place at once, and that'll have some interesting precautions. **


	6. I Never Stopped

**I think I should just start off by saying that this is a pezberry story just like I promised, and I didn't want to give it away, but Santana and Marley won't be dating or hooking up. This chapter is the turning point for Santana. I appreciate the reviews and your passion for the story, but as I said you gotta let me get there. Santana is meant to be frustrating and annoying in this story, at least early on, give her a chance, because she has plenty of unresolved issues. **

Charlie's POV

"When do I get my sister of the year award?" I asked Quinn as I laid down on her, unexpectedly, comfortable dorm room bed. I had helped Quinn complete a ten page long report and I was exhausted. Part of me wondered why Quinn didn't just ask Santana for help, the other part of me wondered why Quinn waited until her big game day to do the assignment.

"Sometime next _never_." Quinn said as she changed into her uniform. "When's Britt coming over, we have our pregame meal in thirty." I checked my phone and looked to see if I had any unread texts from Brittany, which I didn't.

"No clue, if it comes down to it San can take her." I assured Quinn.

"Wait…Santana's coming? I didn't think she would considering Rachel will be there with Kitty." Quinn said looking over her shoulder at me. I shrugged and Quinn gave me a knowing smile. "Except you didn't tell Santana that because you're an asshole." Quinn added before throwing her comb at me.

"Okay sue me, I'm a sucker for a little drama." I said with a grin.

"Yea well it could get out of hand. I think Santana's changed more than we even know." I pondered the thought for a second. "But I agree with you, drama might actually help. Santana hasn't seen Rachel and Kitty act all couplely, that'll certainly bring out some spark."

"So what's the deal with Santana and Marley though, is that happening?" I asked Quinn because I knew she hung out with them more than I did.

"My theory is that Santana was just looking for a hook up and then she realized that Marley is actually a sweetheart…I'd place a bet and say that nothing will happen between them." Quinn said with a cocky grin. "Besides Santana still loves Rachel."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you kidding me?" Quinn said with a scuff. "You'll see tonight I promise." I stood up and brushed off my clothes. "Where are you going?"

"To see if your good buddy Marley is still in her room." I headed down the hallway and looked for the name card that was in front of everyone's room. I found Marley's door and realized that it was open. I knocked on the wall next to it and heard a little shuffling around. The door swung open a moment later and Marley stood there with a smile on her face.

"Hi Charlie, what's up?" Marley said as she took a step back and let me in.

"Nada, I was just bored of the twin. Are you amped for your game today?" I asked her. She walked over to her sports bag and unzipped it. She put her shoes in and then walked back over to her closet.

"I'm so pumped, I want to kill them." Marley said with a huge grin on her face. I don't know how anyone could be afraid of her. I went over to sit on her bed but I stopped short when I saw what was in her duffle bag.

Little vials of some substance. It was clearly drugs; I knew drugs when I saw them, but why would Marley have those? Because she was doping obviously, I thought to myself. "I need to ask you something, and you don't have to answer, but you kinda need to."

"I am already afraid of where this is going." Marley muttered before turning around and grabbing her duffle bag.

"I was just wondering if you and Santana were…do you know about her past?" I asked instead.

"No, but I know what you're thinking, and the truth is, I like Santana…but I know there's more to her. I'm more interested in having a friend, honestly." I was sort of surprised by that confession. The fact that Marley was genuine made me question whether or not I was going to tell Santana about the drugs I saw. "She's sort of broken right, that I know for sure."

"You're not going to try and fix her right?" I asked.

"It's worth a shot." Marley said looking directly into my eyes. "I have to try."

…

Santana's POV

"It's too cold for this shit." I told Kurt as he gave me my hat back. He apparently wanted to check the brand so he could buy one just like it. I felt like I'd rolled my eyes at him at least thirty times tonight and the game just started.

Charlie and Brittany were standing next to Kurt and I, with Brittany leaning up against the railing cheering and Charlie standing right behind her with her arms on either side of the blonde. They looked adorable. "Quinn is kicking ass!" Charlie said over the cheers. Rebecca had just missed a perfect ball played in my Quinn. Rebecca was going out and Marley was going in.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Kurt muttered. I turned my head and spotted Rachel and Kitty walking towards us. They were holding hands.

Okay, I was fucking blindsided by that. I didn't even know they would be here. "Hi guys!" Rachel said with a beaming smile. "How's Quinn doing? We're sorry we're late." Rachel said giving everyone in our group a quick look before pulling Kitty over next to Kurt and I.

"Yea we were _busy_." Kitty said looking directly at me. Wow, this chick wasn't subtle at all. I decided it was best to just not react, even though Rachel had already nudged Kitty. "It's sweet of you all to support Quinn. Sorry I can't remember, are you dating her?" I couldn't believe this girl. I know Rachel, which means I know that she told Kitty that we dated. So was this girl just messing with me?

"No she's my friend." I said.

"Oh gotcha." Kitty said with a fake smile. "You cold baby?" Kitty asked Rachel before she wrapped her arm around her waist. "I've never seen a field hockey game. Do you know a lot about it Santana?"

"Oh you're asking the expert out of all of us." Charlie said patting me on the shoulder.

"Oh yeah? Rachel never told me that." Kitty said.

"I'm sure she didn't tell you a lot." I quipped back. I felt like shit for saying it, but I had to. And I wish that I hadn't because Rachel looked slightly disappointed. I didn't stick around to hear what Kitty would say in response, instead I brushed by them both and left the field.

I went back to my car and reached into the glove compartment for a pack of cigarettes. I grabbed a smoke and lit up; I needed something to take the edge off. I didn't like seeing Rachel like that, all cuddled up next to that stupid figgin bitch.

"Hey whackjob." I spun around and saw Kitty standing there with her hands on her hips. "What's your fucking deal?"

"I don't like you." I told her honestly. "And keep your damn hands off Rachel-."

"Or what?" Kitty said glaring at me. "You think I'm afraid of you? Cause I'm not. You're her ex, so back the hell off." I wanted to punch her, and I realized that the only thing keeping me from doing that was Rachel.

"You don't deserve her." I told Kitty.

"And you do?" She said with a chuckle. "I'll think about that when I'm fucking your girl tonight." I stomped out my cigarette and took a step closer to her.

"You think you can get into my head? Try another trick." I said as I leaned up against my car. "Go back to Rachel."

"Oh I get it; you think that you can just steal Rachel back. You're not as fucking great as you think. She's mine now-."

"No one _owns _her." I told Kitty. "I don't care who you think you are because you're nothing. I still care about Rachel and there's nothing you can do about that."

…

Quinn's POV

"You're lying!" I told Charlie as she followed me out of the locker room. I didn't get it. Why did she have to bring this up after such an amazing win? I just wanted to celebrate and now this news about Marley doing drugs was ruining everything. "Marley is like Mary fucking Poppins."

"I saw what I saw." Charlie said. "Are you going to talk to her about it?"

"And say what? That you were snooping through her shit? I don't think so. And besides what she does on her own time is up to her, I don't know her well enough to interfere. What did Santana say when you told her?" I asked as we walked towards the parking lot.

"How am I supposed to bring it up?" Charlie questioned. "Whatever, let's just go and get drunk." She said as we reached Santana's car. "Okay let's party it up."

"Shotgun!" I yelled shoving Charlie away from the passenger's side door and jumping in. "I am so ready to get hammered."

"You kicked ass today, four goals and a win; you deserve a party for yourself." Brittany said as she gave my arm a warm squeeze.

"Don't let her get too cocky." Santana said as we pulled into the parking lot of _XX_. I was excited to dance and have a good time, but as everyone was getting out of the car I grabbed Santana's hand and stopped her. "What?" Santana asked looking at me with a confused expression.

"You guys can go ahead." I shouted out the window. Charlie gave me a once over before waving goodbye to us. "Okay so what's your deal? Spit it out."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you're still head over heels in love with Rachel, and it's damn obvious. Why don't you go in there, punch Kitty in the face, and get your girl back." Santana just needed to forget about whatever forced her to break up with Rachel. "Okay I can't believe I'm saying this but…you and Rachel belong together, and as much as I enjoy you being wrong for once…you can't keep doing this."

"I tried okay, I tried forcing myself to like Marley, but it doesn't work. Do you get it Quinn? Do you understand?" I didn't know what she was talking about, she wasn't making sense. Her breathing had sped up and she opened her car door and got out, so I did the same.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told her.

"I'm a lunatic!" Santana said slamming her fist down on the hood of her car. "I don't deserve Rachel and you know it. I've been going to that stupid shrink and there's too much shit for anyone to fix. I just need my distance-."

"For how long? How long until you realize that you're making a mistake?" I asked her.

"Quinn…just stop." She looked so broken and I hated it. "The only way I can keep breathing is if I just…let everything go. If I don't feel anything then it'll be okay."

"You're unbelievable." I said as I leaned up against the hood of the car. "So you're giving up?"

"I just don't think I'll ever be able to make her happy with the way I am right now." Santana said quietly. "And I can't hold her back from living her life, that wouldn't be fair. You have to trust that I'm making the right choice."

"But you are admitting that you love her, right?"

"Quinn." Santana said looking down at her feet. "I never stopped."

…

Rachel's POV

"You having a good time?" Kitty asked me as she finished the rest of her beer. "Where's your friend Santana?"

"Wow she's already gotten under your skin and she hasn't even done anything." I said pinching Kitty's cheek. "Simmer down Kit, and give her a chance." Kitty smirked and kissed me before pulling back.

"Fine." She shrugged and looked over my shoulder. "What took them so long?" Kitty asked nodding towards Santana and Quinn who looked like they were just coming inside. Charlie, Kurt, and Brittany had been in for over a half hour, what were Quinn and Santana doing?

"Hey do you guys want a drink?" I asked waving them over. Charlie waltz buy with a bottle of vodka which Santana quickly snatched. She gulped down half the bottle before handing it back to Charlie. Something was wrong with her.

"You can throw down." Kitty said giving Santana a small nod. "I'm impressed." Santana grabbed another shot and downed it, and she was about to grab another when I stopped her.

"Santana, I think that's enough." I told her. "What's wrong?" Santana looked at me like she was going to say something and then she just shook her head. I grabbed the front of her shirt and dragged her back outside. "No one's around. No one's here to judge you, but you need to tell me what's wrong with you right now." The fact that she was drunk didn't help. And the fact that Kitty was going to be pissed and everyone else would have questions about this didn't make things much better.

But I still cared for Santana, even if I still didn't understand her motives clearly.

"Rachel, nothing's wrong." That was an outright lie. I hated when she lied to me.

"I don't like it when you drink that much. It worries me." I grabbed both of her hands to keep her from moving around so much. "Let me drive you home-."

"No, your girl Kitty would be pissed." Santana said pulling her arms away from me.

"You sound jealous." I told her. She didn't answer, instead she grabbed a cigarette and lit up. "You told me that you were quitting."

"It makes me feel too good to quit." She said quietly. "Marley and I…we're not together you know." I leaned up against the brick wall behind me and crossed my arms over my chest. "I know you're not supposed to care about that because you're moving on, but…I know you do."

"What do you think of Kitty?" I asked her. She just smiled and shook her head.

"You don't want to know." I couldn't help but smile at that too.

"What are we doing?" I asked grabbing her hand.

"Hey honey, you lookin for a good time?" Of course some asshole would have to interrupt us. I looked up and saw a guy, drunk off his ass, looking directly at me with a smirk on his face. I did not have time for this.

"Take a hike." Santana told him.

"Think again bitch." I didn't understand what was happening until Santana's fist had collided with the man's skull for the third time. I didn't know what to do. She kept hitting him and it didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon.

"Santana!" I yelled. Maybe if this was a few months ago, I would've stopped her myself, but she was unpredictable. I was practically blindsided when Charlie came running outside and pulling Santana off the guy. Did she hear me from inside? Or did she just sense that something was wrong?

"Jesus Christ San." Charlie said as she held on even tighter to Santana who looked like she still wanted to hurt the guy. He was unconscious, and Santana's knuckles were a bloody mess.

"That felt amazing." Santana said laughing as Charlie went over and woke up the current victim. Santana just watched with a small smile on her face, as she occasionally eyed her bloodied hands.

"He's fine, you could've killed him San." Charlie said with a warning glare.

"Well he deserved it." Santana said as she wiped the blood onto the front of her shirt. "Anyone want a beer?"

…

"She scared me tonight." I said as I rested on Charlie and Britt's couch. "She's hurt me, she broke my heart…but she's never scared me."

"I haven't seen that side of her in a long time." Charlie admitted as she handed me a cup of tea. Brittany was fast asleep, and right about now I really could've used one of her famous hugs. "Did she ever get around to telling you what happened earlier in the summer?"

"No." I said quietly. "Has she told you about how therapy is going?"

"No." Charlie said looking at me with a frown. "I thought you were going to go home with Kitty."

"She moves too fast for me, I should at least keep some of my dignity." I said with a light chuckle. "Give me some good news, how's work?"

"Strangely fulfilling." Charlie said with a goofy grin. "I mean Mr. Rose tried to trip me yesterday and I don't think I've ever laughed harder. It's nice to really enjoy what I'm doing."

"_Kodak _moment on the horizon." I said before engulfing Charlie into a hug. "Okay so enough of the mushy and some more fluff. Rumor has it you're setting up Quinn with one of your friends."

"Who the hell told you that?" Charlie said cocking her head to the side.

"Well technically Quinn paid me to say that so that you'd set her up, so what do you say?"

"I say nay." Charlie said attempting to keep a straight face. "Okay fine but…I want a crown for my birthday."

"Deal." I said shaking her hand. I heard a door open and then Brittany came dragging her feet towards us.

"I want my Charizard." Brittany said grabbing Charlie's hands and pulling her towards their bedroom. "You can come cuddle too if you want Rachel." I waved goodbye to them before pulling out my phone. It was three in the morning, but I still sent the text.

[**To Olivia Lopez**]: Hi, it's about San…can we talk?

**To say that you guys will be shocked about what really happened earlier in the summer is an understatement. If anyone guesses it then I'll write an entire story for you.**


	7. Skinny Love

**Sorry for the delay, enjoy. This chapter has a new character, that I'm quite excited about, he'll play into two storylines.**

Rachel's POV

This was probably the third time that I'd been here. The first two times were with Santana, both senior year. Olivia was always inviting, and I loved seeing her with Santana, because their combined wit was incredibly humorous. I wish I could've come here on better circumstances, but that just wasn't happening.

I knocked on her door, I knew she was home because she texted me this morning telling me that she would be free right now. On the second knock the door was swung open and Olivia was standing there with a cup of tea in one hand and her thick rimmed glasses outlining her eyes.

"Hi, come on in." She was always friendly, from the moment we met in the coffee shop back in Ohio. Even Santana was a struggle to get to know, but not Olivia, she was kind and open about everything, which was why she was so easy to talk to. "This is for you, when I got that text last night, I knew it was something big. And anything important calls for tea." I gratefully took the cup and took a seat next to her on her couch.

"It's about something that happened last night." I said. It was possible that Santana had already told her, and then maybe I'd wasted my time here, but Olivia looked confused.

"What happened?" She asked curiously.

"Truthfully I don't know how to explain it. We were at a club, and I was talking to Santana and some guy made some crude comment…something I hear all the time. And she just went ballistic." I explained. Thinking back to that I still have chills. Santana just beat his face in with little to no regard for his well being.

"Ballistic how? Did she punch the guy?"

"She wouldn't stop hitting him; Charlie had to pull her off. It was terrifying; I really thought she was going to kill him." I told Olivia. She looked worried, but maybe a tad bit confused. My guess was that maybe Santana and her had talked less recently and she wasn't exactly 100% informed on everything.

"I need to talk some sense into her." Olivia said almost like I wasn't even sitting there. I could see her mind racing; I could see her overanalyzing everything.

"She's been seeing a therapist." I blurted out.

"I know."

"What I meant was…I don't know if it's helping, and I think it has to do with whatever happened this summer." Now Olivia was definitely confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened right before Santana and I broke up. It changed her completely, but no one knows about it."

"I'm gonna call her over." Olivia said suddenly, she was about to grab her phone when I stopped her.

"You can't do that." I warned her. "She doesn't need anyone attacking her; she's too fragile right now. She just needs you to be there for her."

"She frustrates me sometimes." Olivia confessed.

"I remember this one time, after Regionals for Glee, Santana and I were sitting in the aisle of our auditorium talking."

"About what?" She asked.

"About you."

_Flashback:_

"_You were nervous, I could tell." Santana whispered even though the auditorium had been empty for at least thirty minutes and we were the only ones left. She was resting her head on my lap and looked up at me with a smile. "But you were damn brilliant."_

"_Amy Winehouse songs suit your voice so well. Will you sing me something on the drive back to your place?" I asked even though I knew the answer was going to be 'yes' right away._

"_You're staying over at my place? Do your dads know slash care?" She asked._

"_Nope."_

"_My sis is coming for a visit tomorrow afternoon." Santana said. Clearly, she had something to say but she kept her lips firmly shut. "I don't know if I want to talk to Olivia. I knew that we had unresolved tension, but suddenly it's starting to get to me." _

"_Talk to me about it." I said urging her to continue._

"_Last week we went swimming…and I got angry because all of her scars have healed. She's got no sign of _him_ on her anymore." She took a deep breath. "I told myself that I didn't blame her, I don't blame my mom or her, but…when I see how far ahead of me she is, it sucks."_

"_I understand, but I think she left Ohio not thinking about what your life would be like. I know she was scared too." I reminded Santana. _

"_It's stupid, but I sort of want to be her." Santana said like she was confessing to the Pope. _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean, she's out there in New York, writing, doing something she loves. I wish that was me, I want that to be me."_

"_It will be you in due time." I leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "You're the strongest person I know, Santana."_

"_Only because I have you at my side. Without you I'd be falling apart." She confessed._

"_Don't give me too much credit." I warned her._

"_Okay, love." She got up and pulled me to my feet, kissing me every chance she got all the way home._

_End Flashback_

"A lot has changed since then." Olivia said.

"But a lot has stayed the same."

…

Charlie's POV

"No, he's mean!" Brittany exclaimed snatching my phone out of my hand. "God you're so bad at this." She said climbing over my lap and squeezing in between Kurt and me.

"Well fine then, you two just go ahead. I don't know who died and made you matchmakers but you'd better not mess this up." I warned. We'd been sitting on our couch for the past hour trying to find a decent guy to set Quinn up with, but it was harder than I expected.

"Oh please I DVR every episode of _Millionaire Matchmaker_, you are talking to the king of set ups." Kurt told me.

"Don't you mean Queen?" I muttered as I stood up and went to the kitchen looking for a snack. I found a bag of chips and decided that tomorrow I was going to start working out with Quinn because if not I was going to be 5 pounds heavier by the end of the month.

"Jeremy Stackhouse?" Brittany asked at me over her shoulder. "He's the lacrosse player right?"

"Yea and a toolbag, not Quinn's type." I told them.

"I got it, Frankie Rico! He's adorable and an athlete, plus he's got his own car in the city." Brittany said jumping over the side of the couch and doing her victory dance around me.

"You're just overlooking one minor detail." I started.

"What?" Brittany sassed with her hands on her hips.

"He's gay." I told her.

"He is?" Kurt questioned perking up slightly.

"You think everyone is gay Charlie." She took the bag of chips out of my hands and took a handful for herself.

"Look around Britt, everyone_ is_ gay." I walked over and took my phone back. "Why did Trouty have to go, we really could've used him-." I paused and looked at the contact my phone was currently paused on. "Chris, Chris Manor."

"Who's that?"

"He's a guy who works the desk to the athletic building at NYU, he's perfect for Quinn. He's cute, funny, respectful, and above all he could probably deal with Quinn's shit. I win you lose. Ha!"

"Okay, stop being such a goober." Brittany said grabbing my arm and tugging me back towards the couch. "Put on something remotely presentable." Brittany demanded. I looked down at my boxers and laughed.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To meet this Chris Manor, you speak so highly of."

…

Quinn's POV

I felt like I was walking on eggshells. Santana was quiet, practically silent, and she hadn't looked at me this whole time. "Okay, get a damn grip. What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem." She said coldly. "I feel pretty good actually."

"You put a guy in the hospital last night." I reminded her. "You are by no definition, okay. And frankly you're pissing me off. If I wanted you to be over here acting like some freak show then I would've invited Charlie so we could make fun of you." Did I have to knock some sense into her or what? Maybe I would get my chance at punching her too.

"I was drunk last night." She said with a smile. "And I wiped the blood of my hands so just forget it."

"I have to talk to you about something." I told her.

"What?"

"Charlie saw something in Marley's bag last night. It was drugs; she thinks…do you know something about that?" She didn't even look surprised. She acted like I just told her I'd picked a flower, no registration in her facial features. "Did you fucking hear me-."

"I heard." Santana said. "I fucking hope she's a druggie, it'll make little miss perfect look not so perfect anymore."

"You don't want that. You're lying out of your ass."

"I'm not." Santana assured me. "I like mystery and danger-."

"Since when?" I asked. She only smiled in response. I laughed because who did she think she was, trying to act like some kind of badass. "So tell me, what was it like defending Rachel's honor?"

"It felt good; I wish I would've been punching Kitty's face in instead." Santana said.

"Everyone knows Kitty's a flop." I assured her. "Except maybe Rachel." I muttered.

"No, she knows." Santana said with a small smile. "Wanna go out for a smoke?"

"I don't smoke moron." I reminded her. "I thought Rachel got you to quit."

"For like 4 months. I get too stressed and it helps me relax." I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Oh code red, here comes mystery girl." I whispered as Marley walked over to our table and sat down next to Santana. "Hi Marley."

"Hi guys, what's going on?" She asked with a genuine smile.

"Oh nothing, Quinn's just trying to show me how fucked up I am." Santana said nonchalantly. "It's what she does in her spare time. That and eat kittens."

"I'm not even going to ask." Marley said handing Santana half of her sandwich. "What happened to your hand?" I realized now that Marley was totally out of the loop about the happenings at _XX_ last night.

"I got into a fight; you should see the other guy." Santana said with a laugh. Marley looked at Santana's hand for a moment longer and laughed too.

"That's funny." Marley said.

"No, she's being serious; she actually did get into a fight last night." I explained.

"You scared of me yet?" Santana asked Marley.

"More like interested." Marley replied.

"Excuse me while I go vomit." I muttered as I got up and went over to grab a cup and fill up on orange juice. If Marley really was some kind of addict, maybe she could help me with my juice addiction because it was getting out of hand. I reached for the plastic cup, which in a classic movie sort of way, was being grabbed by someone else. I looked up and connected eyes immediately with said person, and smiled. "Oh, sorry, you go ahead and take it." I told him. I've seen him before. I know I have. He had deep brown eyes, and his warm smile sort of made me look at him for half a second longer than I needed to.

"Is this a tests?" He asked maintaining his smile.

"What do you mean?"

"If I took the cup then I wouldn't be a chivalrous guy, so no, you take it." I did so trying to keep my giggles to a minimum. My mind was racing for his name, I recognized his slightly noticeable accent.

"Chris!" I said snapping my fingers together and placing the cup down on the countertop. "You're Chris, and you work at the gym."

"Smart _stukkie_." He said with a grin. "Anything else you know about me?" He asked.

"Well I know you're South African, but I don't know what a _stukkie_ is, so I'm sort of hoping you aren't insulting me."

"A _stukkie _is a girl, sorry, I occasionally forget that I use too much slang. Forgive me." His accent was to die for, and his dimples only made his smile look that much better.

"Forgiven." I breathed out.

"This is gonna sound stupid." He scrunched up his face and tried not to laugh at himself. "But my mom wants me to send her back some sweet candies, but I'm not sure what typical American candies are, would you care to help me?" My mouth nearly hit the ground. Was he charming? Or was he charming?

"On one condition." I told him.

"Yes, anything."

"You buy me something too."

…

Santana's POV

I opened the doors to the auditorium. It was beautiful, and not to mention huge. I was grateful that as I walked in a whole class of students were leaving, but I knew for a fact that Rachel wouldn't be one of them. She'd still be on stage practicing, perfecting her voice, because that's just how Rachel was.

She was sitting on the bench in front of the piano. Totally in her own world. I quietly got up on the stage and watched as she started to sing.

_Come on skinny love just last the year_

_Pour a little salt, we were never here_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

_Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer_

_I tell my love to wreck it all  
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall  
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my  
Right in the moment this order's tall_

And I told you to be patient  
And told you to be fine  
And I told you to be balanced  
And I told you to be kind  
In the morning I'll be with you  
But it will be a different "kind"  
I'll be holding all the tickets  
And you'll be owning all the fines

I didn't know what to feel as I walked over and sat down next to her. She didn't seem nervous or frightened or surprised, she just kept singing, like I wasn't even there.

_Come on skinny love what happened here  
Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere  
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my  
Sullen load is full; so slow on the split_

And I told you to be patient  
And I told you to be fine  
And I told you to be balanced  
And I told you to be kind  
And now all your love is wasted?  
And then who the hell was I?  
And now I'm breaking at the britches  
And at the end of all your lines  


I grabbed her hands and forced her to stop playing. She had no choice but to sit there and watch me end the song for her.

_Who will love you?  
Who will fight?  
Who will fall far behind?_

We let the silence engulf us for a moment, and then Rachel pulled her hands away from mine. "What are you doing here?" She asked looking down at the piano.

"Olivia called me yesterday. She said she wanted to hang out, she never calls and asks like that, so I knew something was up right away." I started. "I knew that after that fight, you'd want to figure things out. And Olivia's usually good with that stuff."

"Why doesn't she know?" Rachel asked. "You're supposed to tell her everything." I shrugged and ran my fingers over the piano.

"She can't know…it'll kill her."

"It's already killing you." Rachel muttered. "I wanna be angry with you." She said suddenly standing up and turning away from me.

"So then be angry." I told her.

"I wanna hate you for breaking my heart. Dammit, Santana how could you?" There were tears in her eyes now and I felt like hell. I tried to reach out and touch her shoulder but she brushed me off.

"Just hit me." I told her.

"I wish I could." She confessed. "But I can't, I could never do what your father did to you." She added before wiping her eyes and sighing. "You haven't been going to that therapist anymore, have you?"

"No."

"And you started smoking again, right?"

"Yes."

"Is reverting back to your old ways such a good idea?" She asked. I took a deep breath because I didn't know what to say to her. How do I explain myself? How do I show her that the reason I started smoking again was because we were together when I was a smoker. Or that I stopped seeing my therapist because I didn't see one when we were in a relationship. The old me meant, _Rachel and I_, that's what it meant.

But I still couldn't get over that stupid day in the summer. I still couldn't get past it.

"It wasn't skinny love, Rachel."

"You think I don't know that?" I took a step closer to her. "I know it was a lot more than that." She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me in for a hug. "I miss your smile, Santana."

"Do you promise not to hate me for what I'm about to do?" I asked her.

"I-…Santana what are you going to-." I pressed my lips against hers. It was the quickest kiss we've ever shared, but it felt like forever. She pushed me back, not hard, not aggressively, but she pushed away. Her hand went to her mouth, her eyes were closed and I could tell that she was going to say something, shout maybe.

"I'm not trying to mess with your emotions, I just had to." I told her. "And I know it's wrong, and I'll leave and tell Kitty right now that I kissed you, but…I needed to."

"What happened over the summer?"

"I have to leave, I'm a coward, I always have been. You and I are friends now, from now on, we're friends." I had no idea who I was trying to convince right now. "Goodbye, Rachel, I-."

_Still love you._ I jumped off the stage and ran out of the auditorium. Leaving Rachel behind.

**What do you guys think? I know Rachel and Santana are struggling, and it seems like they aren't moving in the right direction, not yet at least, but just let it flow. Next Chapter: A surprise appearance by two old friends. **


	8. Cowboy

**Okay so because there's an original character in this story I wanted to give you an idea of what I imagine him to look like. I would link you guys to an imagine but links are weird on here sometimes. The guy who I'm basing him off of, looks wise is Nathan J. Owens, he's a model by the way. And to the guest who wrote the last review, thank you so much I'm happy you're enjoying it, but I hope you've read 'Wake' before this because this is the second part to that story. Anyway enjoy. **

Quinn's POV

"What do you think of me?" I asked Rachel as we lounged in her dorm room. She looked up at me with a curious expression, I tossed a pillow at her, and she caught it with a laugh.

"You never ask me questions like that unless there's something up. What is it?" She asked. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. What was I supposed to say? That I was feeling insecure? No, I was Quinn Fabray, I shouldn't feel like that. "Is this about a boy?" She asked curiously.

"Okay first of, let's get something clear. I am not asking you for advice on dating a boy because _lesbihonest_ here, you don't know a ton about boys." I told her. "But I just want to know what you think of me. I mean there is a guy, and like maybe I give off some kind of bad vibes, and if I do, I'd like to know now."

"You don't give off bad vibes." Rachel assured me. "You're just a very strong woman, and people can see that. Some guys are intimidated, most find it attractive." Rachel explained. "Why are you worried about this? Who's the guy?" Leave it to Rachel to be way too nosy about this. She was always interested in my love life. Apparently she's the reason Sam even had the guts to ask me out in the first place.

"Chris Manor, he works in the gym at NYU, and he's from South Africa. I mean have you heard those accents before? He sounds like a fucking angel or something." I said practically swooning my way off her bed.

"You're gushing." Rachel pointed out.

"I know." I said with a smile. "He's hanging out with us tonight by the way."" I told her. "So I'm gonna need someone who's a total bitch to be there so I look like a saint…is Kitty coming?" Now it was Rachel's turn to hit me with a pillow. "What?" I asked laughing my ass off.

"Don't be mean to her." Rachel commanded.

"Don't date her." I replied. "Seriously, what do you see in her? You know what? I'm not even going to get in this. It's your life."

"You're right, it is my life." Rachel said before standing up and going to her closet. She looked upset, and I rolled my eyes. Here's how I knew there was nothing special between Kitty and Rachel: she didn't get overly defensive about it. I just called Kitty a bitch and she didn't yell at me, what does that show me? That Rachel and Santana belong together.

"Don't get all pissy, it'll ruin the mood of the night." I told Rachel as she began taking off her clothes so she could change. I heard a light knock at the door and I was about to go get it when Kitty just walked in like she owned the place. "Generally when people knock they wait for someone to respond." I told Kitty who just glared at me before looking over her shoulder at a half naked Rachel. Kitty was such a sleaze.

"Yea well I didn't know you'd be in here." Kitty said before walking over and kissing Rachel on the lips. Rachel seemed annoyed that Kitty didn't even wait for her to pull her dress on completely before walking in. I was on the same page.

"Well I didn't know you were a bitch." I muttered under my breath. I stood up and made sure my makeup was all right before I checked my phone for texts. I had one from Kurt saying that he'd be over in a moment, and one from Santana saying she didn't think she could make it tonight. Total bullshit.

**[To Santana]: **Your ass had better be there. Also if there is a chance of you beating someone's face in tonight, let's make sure it's Kitty's

"I like your dress." Kitty said in a lame ass attempt to make small talk. Rachel had left the room to go talk to her RA about something, so really, if I wanted to kill Kitty and toss her body out the window, then I could.

"Thank you." I said with a fake smile. I looked down at my vibrating phone.

**[From Santana]: **Rae's gonna be there?

**[To Santana]: **Yes dumbass, did you lose your brain? Be there or be an asshole, you choose.

I didn't expect a text back and I didn't get one. She'd be there for sure. There was another knock on the door and Kitty shouted come in like she was the owner of this place. Kurt walked in gave me a hug. "What is this bitch doing here?" He whispered in my ear. "Hey Kitty, when I walked past Rachel in the hallway she said she needed some help with something." Kitty, like the sucker she was, got up and rushed out of the room. "Pathetic." Kurt muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"Please for the sake of humanity tell me that you hate her as much as I do."

"Probably more." Kurt said fixing his hair. "I mean please, no one's impressed by her bullshit. Do you know what's going on tonight? Charlie and Brittany made me leave their apartment for some super secret reason."

"I believe that secret reason is called hooking up." I said with a shrug and then after a moment a small gag. "They're so secretive, off in their own world of perfection."

"Green is not a good color on you Quinn." Kurt said with a nudge.

"Who are you kidding? Green is a great color on me; it makes my eyes look fantastic."

…

"Okay, just to warn you my friends are insane." I told Chris as we walked into the club. He laughed and I gave him a serious look. "No, I'm not kidding, they're nuts. Last time we were here my friend put a guy in the hospital."

"Which dude is your friend?" Chris asked.

"You mean _chick_." He arched an eyebrow and laughed. "Anyhow, who knows if she'll even show? Oh there's Marley." I grabbed his hand and squeezed through the crowd until I was standing in front of Marley. "Hey, is San coming?"

"I dunno." Marley said handing me a drink. And getting one for Chris too. "Rachel's over there with Kitty though if you want to ask her." Marley said pointing to Kitty and Rachel who were sitting at a table with Kitty rubbing her foot against Rachel's leg. Barf. "Ew." Marly muttered as she turned away from them and look back towards us. She tried to pretend that she didn't say anything and that we didn't hear her but it was no use. "I mean I'm not a homophobe, it's just…"

"Trust me I get it." I told her. "This is Chris by the way, Chris this is my fiend Marley, she's on the field hockey team too." I explained they shook hands and exchanged smiles before Chris excused himself to go get us another round of drinks. "He's cute right."

"Oh my god, he's a babe. Who is he? Does he go to our school?" Marley asked.

"He works at the gym, and literally his accent is making me melt on the inside. How am I supposed to play it cool when he looks like that?!" Marley laughed but I was serious. It'd never really had to stare down girls because they were looking at the guy that I was with, usually they just cowered in fear.

"You guys look great together, and he seems really sweet. Is this your first date?" Marley asked.

"Yea, and hopefully not our last." I said before looking towards the door. "Oh here comes trouble." I muttered as Kitty and Rachel walked over. "Hi guys." I said enthusiastically.

"Hey." Kitty said with an aura of nonchalance that just made me hate her more.

"Is that Chris? He's a hunk." Rachel said with a smile. "I approve." I wanted to tell her that based on her choice of company at this moment, I didn't need her approval at all, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Where's Charlie? I want my surprise, now!" I said.

"What surprise?" Chris asked as he came up behind me. I looked over my shoulder and shrugged.

"No one knows." We all said in unison.

…

Santana's POV

I was pacing back and forth in my dorm room. My roommate was out, I actually think she was spending time with her family this weekend so I guess I had the place to myself. I was still debating whether or not I wanted to go out tonight. On the one hand, I wanted to see them, on the other hand I really didn't want to see Rachel. After last time, I think we needed more than a few days to try to pretend like nothing happened.

I shouldn't have kissed her, but it felt good, so I'm going to even pretend like I want to take it back. I heard a loud knock at my door and I groaned. Quinn would be the type to come all the way over here just so that she could drag me out of my funk and bring me to the same club where I beat a guy to a pulp just over a week ago.

I got up and slowly walked over to the door opening it like I had everything to lose. And then, right in that moment I did. Sam was standing there with this stupid smile on his face, and his stupid cowboy hat on, and that fucking look in his eyes like I was supposed to be happy to see him. And I wasn't.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. His smile faded and he tried to move past me and into the room. "You can't come in." I told him.

"Why?" He questioned before pushing past me with his duffle bag and keys in his hand. "What? No hello? No, I'm glad you drove 8 hours to come and see me?" I looked away from him, what were we doing here? What was _he_ doing here?

"I need some fresh air." I grabbed the pack of cigarettes off my desk and brushed past him making it to the stairs long before he did. I knew he was following me and I didn't care. I made it to the side walk and I lit up, exhaling straight up in the air just as Sam was walking out. I hopped on the ledge that lead down to bike racks and Sam followed suit.

"This isn't like before." He said quietly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It means you can't run away San, you can't just hide behind your tough exterior and smoke to ease the pain." Sam started. I took the hat off his head and looked at it, Quinn bought it for him on their third date, it was a joke, but no one realized that he'd actually love it.

_Sam's POV_

_Santana and I were planning something special for our girlfriends, a road trip would do us all some good. There was a concert, _Alabama Shakes_, and we were going to see them in Tennessee in a few days. I was pumped, but I needed to talk to Santana about the whole money situation and what we were doing about the hotel. _

_I knocked on her door, usually she left it open, but I didn't know if Rachel was there and I didn't want to interrupt anything. Especially not after last time. I could hear movement, but I didn't know if it was one or two people. I knocked again and waited for an answer. "Santana? Hey can I come in?" I asked. _

_Silence and then a loud crash. I threw open the door to see what was going on, and then I saw her, curled in on her kitchen floor. She wasn't crying, she was sobbing uncontrollably and she was shaking like she was in Antarctica or something. I rushed over and kneeled down to see what was wrong. As soon as I touched her she shoved me so hard I slammed my head against the side of her island in the middle of her kitchen. She got up and rushed into her living room. "Santana what the f-…" I slowly made it back to my feet and I turned around to find Santana leaning against her window and just staring at the ground below her. _

_It was now that I noticed the blood. It was on her hands, her knuckles, her shirt. What the hell happened here? "Take one more fucking step and I'm gonna take your fucking head off." I was scared by the threat because I knew she was serious, but I was even more worried that she said it with absolutely no expression. _

"_Santana, you're bleeding, let me see if I can take of those cuts." I told her quietly. "What happened here? Do I need to call the police?" Of course I did, I should've called them as soon as I walked in the room._

"_It's not supposed to be like this." She muttered before unlocking the window and lifting it up. I had no idea what she was doing until she made a moment to let me know that she was going to jump. _

_I've never moved so fast in my life. Never in football, never when I'm chasing down my dog, never. I grabbed her, roughly, I didn't care if I hurt her, as long as she was away from the window. We both slammed down on the ground, and I kept my arms wrapped around hers even if she was struggling. "Santana! Santana! Fucking breathe." I told her._

"_I can't-…Sam I-I…this just I can't." I held her because I didn't know what else to do. I was sure I had a concussion and I knew that Santana wasn't going to tell me what happened even if I begged. I didn't care, it just needed to stay here, and make sure she was safe._

_End Flashback_

"Sam just fuck off." I told him.

"Santana you can't run away." He repeated.

"Watch me." I said putting on his cowboy hat and walking away. Sam was relentless, and he had a huge head because that's hat was way too big for me. He reached out and grabbed my wrist stopping me from going down and getting onto a subway line.

"Hey, you know what? We're dropping it, were you going clubbing, let's go clubbing. Let's get drunk, let's dance and forget about everything for awhile." He suggested. He was trying to keep me from punching him in the face, but he was also right, beer and a party could make me just forget everything. "What do you say?" He asked with a smile.

"Whatever." I said with a shrug. "Can I wear this stupid hat?"

"Yea, sure cowgirl."

…

Charlie's POV

"What's taking so long?" I asked as we walked through the threshold of the door. Brittany looked towards us and laughed.

"You two are matching!" She exclaimed as she rushed over and fixed my pink bowtie. "You look hot babe." She kissed me quickly before putting on her heels and pulling her hair up. "Let's go." We left our apartment and caught a cab heading towards the club.

"Bets on people's reactions?" I asked.

"Quinn's gonna cry." He said with a smile. "And Kurt will tell me that pink isn't my color or something like that."

"Rachel's gonna jump on you and probably ramble for the whole time." Brittany added.

"San won't believe it, she's gonna be so happy." I said with a laugh just as we arrived. I paid and we got out of the cab. We walked inside and within one second, in one literal second Rachel was screaming and running towards us. Dave didn't even get a chance to say something, Rachel had already jumped on him.

"Davie!" Rachel yelled holding on to him for dear life. Dave spun her around in a circle.

"Rachie." He said with a smile.

"Get off Rachel!" Quinn said pushing Rachel aside so she could give Dave a hug. I didn't know if everyone else noticed but Quinn was tearing up. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're here. You look so great and gosh I missed you."

"I missed you guys too." Dave said with a smile.

"I thought you were in San Diego." We all turned around and caught Santana just as she was coming in. She was wearing a cowboy hat and had had this look like she was unsure if everything was even real.

"Charlie helped me find a cheap flight back for a visit." Dave said with a small smile.

"Last I heard you were working at a youth center." Santana said slowly walking over towards him.

"Yea, it's fulfilling work." He said with a chuckle.

"St. David." Santana said just to see how it sounded. "Just hug me you idiot." I didn't know if we were supposed to look away or not, Kurt whispered something about how cute Dave and I looked, but I couldn't look away from Santana and Dave's embrace. That was until Sam walked in and everyone went nuts, including me. I didn't know who was really talking, I didn't even know who I was really hugging and somehow after all the crying and laughing we ended up sitting down at a table with beer and peanut shells scattered around all just talking.

"A gap year sounds crazy; I wish I'd done that." Quinn said.

"I ask my father if I could take a gap year and he said sure, but I also might want to consider joining the circus." Chris said with a shrug. We laughed and Kitty said something about her uncle who was a full time clown but I ignored it because most of the time I ignore her anyway.

"Did you guys plan this? Coming to New York at the same time I mean?" Rachel asked Dave and Sam.

"Not at all, we just got lucky man." Dave said giving Sam a fist bump.

"So Sam, you came for a visit too?" Brittany asked.

"Yea…I mean I came to visit San." The whole table turned to Santana all with curious expressions, I could see Rachel's gears turning in her head and Quinn looked more curious than the rest of us.

"Sketchy much." Quinn muttered.

"No I meant because Santana and I are recording a song, I mean a cover and I was visiting so we could set up studio time." Sam said giving Santana a wink.

"Okay wow I need a smoke." Santana said getting up and leaving the table.

"Wait, she sings?" Marley asked curiously.

"Please stop drooling." Quinn told Marley. "Everyone here knows you're dying to hook up with her."

"I didn't know that." Chris said.

"Neither did I." Dave and Sam said in unison.

"I'm not dying to do anything with her." Marley told Quinn whose response was rolling her eyes. "I mean she's like damn sexy, but…I dunno, whatever happens happens I guess."

"I'm gonna go check on Santana." Rachel said, I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears as she was listening to Marley swoon over Santana. I looked across the table at Quinn and smirked letting her know that I knew she did that on purpose.

"Who wants another round?" Quinn asked with a laugh as everyone raised their hands.

…

Rachel's POV

"You and Sam are recording a song, huh?" I asked Santana as she smoked and rested her hand over her cowboy hat.

"Yea we're gonna be superstars." She joked as she put out her cigarette. "I'm happy Dave's here though, maybe we'll hit up a gay bar and drag Kurt along, or maybe those two dumbasses will realize that they actually have chemistry and give it a shot." She said with a shrug.

"So we aren't going to talk about the kiss then?" I asked.

"What kiss?" She said with a chuckle. "This place is constricting, I think I should get going."

"No wait, come on, you can't leave. Everyone's in there, aren't you going to test out Quinn's new fling?" I asked grabbing her hands so she couldn't possibly pull away. "And we can dance if you want." I said with a small smile.

"Your girl Kitty would go fucking insane if I danced with you." Santana said before looking out towards the street again. "Especially with the way I wanna dance with you." I saw the flask poking out of Santana's back pocket and I frowned. She'd came out here just to get more alcohol? That seemed excessive.

"Are you drunk?"

"We're at a bar, I had 4 beers, and I've been sipping from this flask all night…yeah I'm fucking drunk." She said before pulling out her phone and checking the time. "I'm getting out of here." She said before hailing a cab. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know if I should stop her or go back inside, so I just got in the cab with her and now we were heading back to her dorm room.

"Why are you so quiet?" I asked her as I paid for the cab for her so she wouldn't have to fumble with her wallet. We got out of the cab and walked towards the front entrance.

"I'm trying not to black out." She said as she grabbed her wallet and pulled out her I.D. so we could get inside. The elevator ride up was quiet, Santana kept messing with the cowboy hat on her head and she wouldn't stop whistling.

When we got into her room, though, things changed. "Drink this." She said tossing me the flask. I caught it and opened it staring at the liquid that was inside for a moment before taking a drink from the flask. "You look hot." She said checking me out from where she was laying down on her bed. Her head was resting against the headboard and she had one leg bent, and I thought that maybe if she had a toothpick in her mouth then she might actually look like a cowgirl. And I'll admit that once I heard that Santana might be coming tonight I sort of dolled up a little more than I needed to, and I even wore five inch heels to make myself almost as tall as her. But right now, with the way her eyes were burning into me, I didn't know what I should do. "Come here." She said.

She was a woman of few words when she was drunk and I was overly obedient when I was drunk, clearly, this would end badly and a part of me didn't care if it did.

**Review please**


	9. The Kids Are Alright

**Sorry for the massive wait in between updates. **

Rachel's POV

I woke up in Santana's arms. I didn't know what happened the night before, I didn't know if we'd done something we'd both regret. I just knew that Santana was warm, and her breathing was quiet and sweet, and I didn't want her to wake up, not yet.

I was still fully clothed and so was she, so my guess was that we didn't have sex. But did we kiss? What happened after she told me to come over there? I must have fallen asleep; the alcohol must have been stronger than I thought. Why did I even come home with her in the first place? I was supposed to be with Kitty all night. I really screwed up this time, I felt like I was totally asking for it. I know I wanted to figure out what happened over the summer, but a part of me just wanted to be around Santana again.

"Stop over thinking this." Santana said as she yawned and opened her eyes. I expected her to move her hands but she didn't. Our noses were still only a few inches apart, we were too close, she was touching me too intimately for us to just be friends.

"How can I not Santana?" I tried to pull away but Santana held me closer.

"Stop freaking out." Santana said but I pushed her away and stood up.

"I can do whatever I want! And you know what, I'm not just going to let you use me whenever you feel like you need a cuddle buddy. You broke up with me, remember?" I don't know why we kept doing this. There's too much left unresolved and I was dating Kitty. I couldn't keep letting her get away with toying with my emotions, it wasn't fair to either one of us.

"I'm just looking for a friend-."

"Then get Charlie drunk and have her sleep over. I know what this is, and I know why you're doing it, but I'm a faithful woman. And I won't let you put me in a position like this again." I started to pull on my shoes, but then I stopped. "Did you cheat on me? Is that what happened this summer?"

"No of course not." Santana said furrowing her eyebrows. "It was nothing like that." I hated that my heart force me to believe her. She was the most unbelievable, gut wrenching girl I've ever met, but I had to believe her. "Look I love you…_loved_."

"No, love." I told her. "And when they say love hurts, they weren't kidding." I was about to leave when Santana reached out her hand and stopped me.

"You can use the shower and change into some more comfortable clothes." Santana offered. "I'm gonna grab some breakfast, I'll bring you something, just don't run away or anything." Of course I would take up this offer, and once Santana had left I found myself stripping naked and stepping into Santana's shower. I should've protested or told her that I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to, but that was a lie.

I scrubbed my body raw, feeling like if I didn't, I'd sense Santana's hands on my body forever. I think I'd made myself clear that we were friends, and I was starting a relationship with Kitty, whether Santana liked it or not. But even I wasn't totally convinced.

I got out of the shower and wrapped a clean towel around my body. I put on my underwear and then exited the bathroom, hoping Santana had some of her small clothes already in her closet. She did. I was in the middle of pulling on some jeans when Santana walked in. Sure I was shirtless and I could feel my cheeks warming up, but there really wasn't anything to do to cover up without looking ridiculous so I just stood there.

"Don't worry, it's nothing I haven't seen before." Santana said with a smile. "I've got some t-shirts in that bottom drawer." She walked over with her two Styrofoam boxes and set one down, while she opened the other and started eating an omelet. I grabbed a blue v-neck and slipped it on before I grabbed the other box and opened it. "Vegan blueberry pancakes with strawberry syrup on top."

"Okay, you're sorta making up for how many times I wanted to punch you earlier." I told her as I sat down on her bed next to her and began eating. After a long silence, that should've been comfortable but truly wasn't, I spoke up. "So you and Marley?"

"So you and Kitty?" She replied with an arched eyebrow.

"Stop, I'm being serious." I told her as I closed my box and put it back on her nightstand. She looked over at me and shook her head.

"There's nothing going on between us." Santana said.

"She wants you." I said with a knowing smirk. "And really, if you want to fool around or date other people, then you can. No one's stopping you." Except every ounce of my being told me to take those words back. I didn't want her to date other people, I wanted her to fix whatever was going on and wait for me. I wanted her to just wait, even if it took one day less than forever I just wanted her to wait.

"She's my friend." Santana said as she finished her food. "Do you need a ride? Should I go with you so I can talk to Kitty?" She asked.

"No, I can handle her. I don't want you two arguing or something. She'll understand." I explained.

"How are you going to explain that you were laying on top of me?" Santana asked and I smacked her shoulder playfully.

"That's how I sleep!" I defended.

"Okay, sure…if you say so."

…

Quinn's POV

"Hey I don't feel like a proper outsider." Chris said as he jogged on the treadmill next to me. I was happy he asked if I wanted to work out with him, I didn't mind that it was early, I was just happy that he was looking for excuses to spend time with me. I also didn't mind that he was only wearing a tank top and basketball shorts, because his body was off the charts.

"Well considering you just said _a proper outsider_ you should feel like one." I told him with a laugh. "So on a scale of zero to never again, how likely is it that you'll want to hang out with my friends again?"

"I loved them, they were really kind. I could tell that Sam was kind of…um…I guess maybe he didn't like me that much." Chris looked over at me and shrugged. "I have no idea why."

"Sam and I used to date, he was just jealous." I explained.

"Oh…ouch, well then I guess I shouldn't have had my arm around you the whole night." I slowed down my treadmill and Chris did the same. We jogged for a few more minutes before turning the treadmills off and grabbing towel to wipe off our sweat.

"No, really it wasn't an issue, plus…I liked that you had your arm around me the whole time. It was comfortable." He wrapped his arm around me and laughed when I shoved him away. "Gross." I mumbled as I wiped his sweat off my body.

"Sorry I couldn't help it." He said with a grin. "So keep going we never finished our conversation about your high school. All you said was it was in Ohio in a place called Llama-." I could tell he was joking, because as I'd quickly learned he joked around about 90% of the time.

"Lima!" I told him as he tugged on a thin jacket and sweatpants.

"Oh right, I forgot." He said innocently. "Okay so Lima, Ohio, you went to a big high school, right?"

"Yeah and I was a cheerleader." Chris's mouth hung open until I was forced to close it for him. "Yes, I know a big change from a field hockey player. I was also sort of the most popular girl in school."

"Wow, I am not worthy." Chris said as we left the recreation center.

"I don't know, now it all seems like a million years ago. And Brittany, the other blonde girl, she was a cheerleader too?"

"Yeah, and Santana." I told him. "Guess what they called us back in high school." I said as we crossed the street.

"Hm…Charlie's Angels? Charlotte's Angels? The Powerpuff Girls?"

"Wait those are all really good." I started. "But no, they called us the Unholy Trinity." Chris's smile was infectious so we walked into the dinning area smiling like two idiots. "Catchy right."

"What made you three so unholy?" He questioned with a suggestive wink. I smacked his arm and the sound he made was priceless. "It was a joke." He assured me. "Two swipes." He said holding out his student I.D. I can't believe he's paying for my lunch.

"You didn't have to do that." I told him once we'd grabbed our food and sat down at a table.

"I know, I just wanted to." He said. "Incoming." He said as he waved to someone behind me. As soon as I felt the arms wrap around my neck I knew it was Santana.

"Hey." I said as she sat down next to me. "Where'd you head off to last night?"

"Back to my dorm." Santana said as if that was the answer I was looking for.

"Do I need to spell it out for you? You went back to your dorm with Rachel." I said putting down my sandwich. "You left Kitty there and Sam had to shack up at Charlie's, which by the way, is overcrowded at this point. On what planet was that okay?"

"Nothing happened between us." Santana said.

"What person in their right mind would believe that load of bullshit?" I asked her.

"I'm serious. We cuddled, cuddling isn't a crime." Santana said before looking over at Chris. "Is cuddling a crime?"

"I'm not entirely familiar with all American laws." I laughed and so did Santana. "I thought Rachel and Kathy were dating?"

"Her name's Kitty." I told him before adding, "And they are dating which is why Santana was not supposed to leave with Rachel. If I ask Rachel and she says something different then I'm gonna punch you."

"I promise that's all that happened." Santana folded her hands and sat them on the table. "So what did you two do last night?"

"We stole cake from a banquet and watched _Scrubs_ until we passed out." Chris said. Santana looked at me and arched an eyebrow.

"Wow, kid you're lucky, Quinn really likes you." She said. "And with that I shall bid you two love birds adieu." Santana bowed before she left, but that still didn't give me enough time to cover my blush. We finished eating and Chris told me he'd walk me back over to my dorm room.

When we were finally outside of my dorm room Chris started smiling.

"What?" I asked him.

"So…you like me?"

"Isn't that obvious?" I questioned.

"I like you to." He leaned down and kissed me gently on my lips. His lips were warm and soft and with every moment that they were against mine, I felt like he was taking my breath away. "I hope it's obvious too."

…

Charlie's POV

I felt like a wreak, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to work, but I had to. Mr. Rose gave me the stare down as I walked in, and I tried not to smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you're late." He said. "And this is why children bother me, hanging out all night drinking." I wanted to protest for two reasons. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't a kid, but being 18 didn't make me an adult. And I wanted to tell him that I hadn't been partying, when in fact I had.

"You hate kids because you have like 80 of them." I told him. "And excuse me for having some fun."

"Books are fun." He told me as I got behind the counter. "Were you out with my daughter?" He asked curiously.

"I was out with my girlfriend and your daughter happened to be there." The last thing I needed was for him to get the wrong impression. Mr. Rose leaned on the counter.

"Wonderful, because my daughter is way too special to date someone with pink hair." I laughed and leaned against the counter too. I loved the banter we shared. I didn't really find a connection like I had with Mr. Rose with anyone else. I still couldn't look at Marley without thinking about those drugs, but I didn't let that effect the relationship I had with Mr. Rose.

"Well it doesn't matter because I'm very happy with my girlfriend." I assured him.

"You never tell me what she's like." Mr. Rose chastised. "I'm starting to think you just made her up." As if the gods overheard him, Brittany came walking into the store holding a brown paper bag in her hand. She walked right up to the counter and gave me a peck on the lips, before putting the bag in my hands.

"What's this?" I asked her.

"Lunch, you left without eating anything." She said. "And I've told you a million times to eat before you go to work."

"I know." I told her to keep her from explaining everything she knew about diet and nutrition. "Brittany, this is my boss Mr. Rose." Brittany held out her hand and Mr. Rose shook it.

"It's really nice to meet you, Charlie talks about you all the time." Brittany told him.

"Don't tell him that, he'll never let me forget it." I walked over to the other side of the cash register and took Brittany's hand. "Are you holding down the fort? Last time I checked Kurt was trying to convince Sam that he should let him cut his hair while Dave was insisting on baking a cake." Our place was sort of crowded at the moment, thanks to Santana. We could hold four easily but not five.

"The kids are alright, don't worry."

"You two have kids?!" Mr. Rose shouted from where we he standing.

"What? No!" I told him. "We're talking about our friends." I told him. He shook his head.

"I think I'm losing my mind." He mumbled as he left us alone and went over to sort out the new books that someone had brought in.

"Okay so what are we going to do?" I asked returning my attention back to Brittany. "I mean Kurt's our guest until all of his furniture comes in, and Dave's only here for a few more days, but…Sam?"

"I think I should talk to Santana about that." Brittany suggested. "Among other things."

"I know." I said completely agreeing with her. "But that's a conversation for another time. What I want to talk about now is how perfect you are."

"I am so not-."

"You are." I assured her as I kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me close before ruffling my hair.

"I love you _Pinky_." I could here Mr. Rose laugh even from over here.

"I love you too _Blondie_." She smiled and nudged my shoulder. "Hey." I said nudging her back.

"Where are we going tonight?" I asked Brittany who was trying not to smile.

"We're seeing _Greg Laswell_ duh; you know how Rachel got all those tickets." I had no idea how I'd forgotten. I had been excited for this concert for a few weeks now. "Okay so I'll swing back here once you're done working and I won't wear anything sparkly or anything."

"What? You can wear whatever you want." I assured her.

"Well last night I wore something super crazy and I want people to pay attention to you and your hair tonight." She said empathetically. "Plus, when we're kissing I don't want everyone looking at us." She was such a genius sometimes. "Later Pinky." She gave me one more kiss for the road. "Bye Mr. Rose, nice meeting you." Brittany yelled over her shoulder as she left.

"She could do so much better than you." Mr. Rose told me.

"That's funny, that's the exact thing I told your wife, she seemed to agree." I replied with a smirk.

…

Santana's POV

I haven't had that much fun in a long time. I didn't even care that Rachel and Kitty were inseparable throughout the whole concert. I was just happy that we got to go. The venue was crowded and I held Marley's hand to keep her from getting lost. We had to wait outside for everyone else to come out before we could leave though.

"That concert was amazing, I still have chills." Marley said squeezing my hand.

"I love it, my heart's racing." I told her. "God, where is everyone, I wanna get out of here." I said. Kurt and Dave walked out, carrying shirts as they did. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Right here." Quinn said as she lead our cult of friends out of the building. She'd been so lost in Chris's eyes the whole night I wasn't even sure if she'd listened to one song, but I for one, thought they were adorable together.

"Where are we headed?" Chris asked as he intertwined his hands with Quinn's.

"Double X." Kitty suggested, and even if we all hated her, we weren't opposed to the suggestion. I turned around and started walking towards the subway station, but when I heard a shout and ruffling from behind me I turned around. It was Chris, he was on the ground and he was bleeding from his nose. Dave was trying to shove some guy away, while Charlie was shouting at someone else. I stopped walking and rushed over to see what happened to Chris.

"What the hell?" Brittany said smacking the guy who I guess had punched Chris.

I was utterly confused and worried, and no one was really telling me what was going on. I could hear the police sirens coming closer, and I wondered who had called until I saw Rachel put away her phone. "You okay?" I asked Chris.

"No he isn't." Quinn said. "We're going to press charges."

**Review por favor, I'm not even entirely sure if I still have readers for this story. **


	10. 6 Days

**It's been awhile, I guess it took a bit to get some solid inspiration. I think you'll come to realize in this fic that some old habits emerge again for Santana. And I'll just say, pay attention to small details, because if you do then you'll be able to figure more and more out. Enjoy.**

Santana's POV

I waited outside of the dorm room, none of us knew what to do. Quinn had taken Chris in there about an hour ago, and they hadn't come out yet. I heard movement every once in awhile, I guess she was cleaning up the cut on his face or something, but we told her we weren't leaving until we were sure he was alright. To be honest, we were all still a little unsure about what actually happened.

"Should we knock?" Charlie asked. Brittany was half asleep against Kurt's shoulder, and Marley was leaning against me for support. Rachel and Kitty had bailed right at the scene, I could tell that Kitty was pushing them to leave, but I didn't protest or try and hold them back. Sam and Dave were back at the apartment, fixing things to make sure there was enough room for everyone to sleep well tonight. I still felt a little guilty about not letting Sam stay with me, but I didn't want to deal with everything that he knew.

He still had too many questions.

"Hold on give me a second." I knocked quietly and a few moments later Quinn opened the door. She looked around and pulled me inside. Marcus wasn't there and I had no idea where he went or how he got out since we were all standing out there the whole time. "Where'd he go?"

"He went out that other bathroom door, he just didn't want you guys to bombard him with questions. God this is so fucked up." Quinn said as she sat down on her bed. "Tell everyone to get out of here. I don't want to talk to them." I nodded and went back over to the door opening it slightly.

"Hey guys, Quinn doesn't want to make a big show of this, so you all can head back home." Everyone agreed except Charlie who looked upset.

"What? Let me talk to her." I looked back at Quinn who was shaking her head to the request.

"Call her tomorrow, don't make a big thing about it, okay?" I could tell Charlie wanted to just burst in the door, but Brittany was holding her hand and pulling her back towards the elevators.

"Okay." Charlie left without another word, and I knew damage control would be in order tomorrow. But I would take care of that tomorrow, right now I was worried about Quinn.

"Quinn what the hell happened out there?" I asked finally. There was no need to sugarcoat thing, we were alone now. "Did that guy just swing on him? What'd he say?"

"Have I ever told you how much a fucking hate people? Bigots in particular." Quinn said through clenched teeth. "Those guys must have seen us inside, we were holding hands, and they followed us out. I couldn't really hear them not until they pushed Chris. This isn't the 50s you know, and this isn't some small hick town in the South. They called him...well you know, the _n_ word and they hit him."

"What? They called him that? You've got to be shitting me." Honestly what the hell was going on in this world. I felt sick to my stomach at the mere thought. Modern day racism was not a pretty thing, how could people still be so ignorant? "Is he pressing charges?"

"No." Quinn said with a small shrug. "Which is bullshit, because he's too nice of a guy to admit that something is wrong. Maybe I'll press charges myself."

"You should get some rest, I'll call some people maybe try and figure things out. I could maybe get him a lawyer if he wants." I offered.

"I'll ask him, I dunno." Quinn paused and looked at me. "You wanna sleep here tonight?" I checked my watch, it was 5 in the morning, I don't think I'd be sleeping at all.

"I'm gonna head out actually. This whole dorm life thing isn't working for me. I'm think about maybe getting a place of my own. Maybe Sam can stay with me then." Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me. "What?"

"Don't do that. I know you'd only do it just to be nice, but I can tell that you don't want him here. Tell him to go home, it's not fair to you." She was right, but I still was on the fence. Sam was a nice guy, and it wasn't his fault he'd seen too much. "Plus with you and Rachel still being on the fence-."

"We're not on the fence, we're over the fence, we're over the damn hill for all I know." I took off my shoes and laid on the bed next to Quinn. "She's probably at her dorm fucking Kitty right now."

"Shit, the visual. God please no." Quinn groaned against my shoulder. "Don't say things like that. We all know Rachel can be a prude when it comes to stuff like that. She didn't let you get into her pants for like months."

"That was different." I assured her.

"Different how?" She questioned.

"Well for starters Rachel doesn't love Kitty, Rachel loved me."

…...

Charlie's POV

I was just finishing up with the last customer of my work day. Today had been nice and quiet which I didn't mind, busy days could be fun too. Mr. Rose was in the back and I was about to go and tell him that I was heading out when someone walked into the store. "Hi, how can I..." I stopped myself when I realized it was Marley. "Oh hey what's up? You looking for your dad?"

"Um, I was actually wondering where Santana was." I looked at her strangely, why would she come here to look for Santana? "Uh, well I don't know where she is. She's missed the past 6 days of class and...I talked to Quinn and she hasn't seen her either." This was the first I've heard of this. Sure I was busy with my own things, but if Santana was missing then I'm sure I would've known. Someone would've mentioned it.

"Did you call-?"

"Her phone is turned off. Look I know it's not really my business-." I held up my finger telling her to give me a second. I locked the cash register, went to the back of the store and told Mr. Rose I was leaving, I didn't stay for a cup of tea like I normally do. I tugged my jacket on and pulled out my phone. I dialed Santana's number as Marley and I headed out the store. Santana didn't answer.

"Dammit she didn't pick up." I said as I tried to hail a taxi.

"I know, I told you that already. Look, maybe she's just clearing her head." Marley said as a taxi finally stopped in front of us. We got in and I relayed the address from memory.

"Not for six days, she doesn't do that." I assured Marley. i figured she was just doing that thing where she occasionally ignored me. I didn't realize she'd gone completely AWOL. God did Marley have a lot to learn. She didn't know anything about Santana's past. She doesn't know about the abuse, she doesn't know everything that we've been through. I didn't even know why I was taking her with me. "I mean two years ago she left for awhile, no word, no contact...but she promised to never leave like that again."

"Why did she leave?" I checked my phone again, just in case. No calls.

"You should just ask her about that." I told her.

"I don't like secrets. I thought I did, I thought I liked mystery, but she's keeping a lot from me." Marley explained. I thought about smacking her, who the hell did she think she was?

"Don't complain about her secrets, we all have them, even you." I didn't want to sound so annoyed but I could tell that I did. We arrived at the apartments and she paid for the cab, I was thinking too deeply and feeling so tense that I didn't even protest. We walked over to the front of the apartment to buzz ourselves up. Marly grabbed my arm before I could touch the button.

"What does that mean? What do you mean by that?" She questioned.

"I think you know." Could we maybe have this conversation at another time? This wasn't our life chat time. Like I said before, I wasn't a huge fan of Marley, and now that I was aware of the drug thing, that made it even worse.

"What?"

"The fucking drugs Marley. There were like 20 fucking vials in there, pills, other stuff too. So don't bullshit with me. Okay? Let's have this talk later, right now I'm here for Santana, not you." I yanked my arm out of her grips and pressed the button.

"Who is it?" I heard from the other end.

"Charlie." I said.

"Charlie? I don't know any Charlies." I rolled my eyes, jeez I didn't have time for all of this messing around.

"Fine, it's Charlotte." I heard the buzz from the door and Marley and I walked into the apartment building. I headed straight for the elevator and when we made it to the right floor I made a beeline to the door. I knocked loud to make sure she'd hear me. "Hey, Olivia, can we come in?" She opened her mouth to ask who _we_ was, but then she spotted Marley and arched an eyebrow. Before I could even explained why we were there Olivia was glaring at me. "What's your deal?" She smacked me across the face without warning.

"What the hell is your defect Charlie? You and Brittany were perfect together!" I was too busy trying to stop seeing stars to really understand what the hell she was yelling about. "You are such a little fucker, if you broke Brittany's heart then I'm going to shave your head." I finally looked at her and shook my head trying to pull myself out of the daze.

"One, I hate you and two, I did not break up with Brittany. This is Marley she's a friend." I assured her.

"Oh..." Olivia said realizing her mistake. "Well why the hell didn't you say that in the first place?"

"I didn't think it needed saying." I told her. "Marley this is Santana's older sister Oliver."

"Nice introduction Charlotte." Olivia said sarcastically. "Hi Marley, if you want to call me Oliver that's okay, but you have to promise to call her Charlotte then too." Marley smiled and shook Olivia's hand.

"Okay enough with the pleasantries. That's not what I came here for." I started. "Okay, have you seen Santana?"

"What kind of...where is she?" Olivia asked us.

"We don't know, we haven't seen her in six days." Marley told her. Olivia's eyes went wide and I rushed over to grab her shoulders so she wouldn't start freaking out.

"It's probably nothing, just breathe." Olivia inhaled deeply and the exhaled. "We tried calling her but she hasn't answered. I just...it's not like anything happened the last time we saw her. I just assumed she was staying here." Olivia checked her phone before placing it on her counter.

"Okay well my mom has been sending me letters for a couple of months, no return address it's possible she's sent them to Santana too, maybe they're meeting up or something." That was certainly a possibility. That was something Santana would be secretive about. Among other things.

"Look, I came here because I don't know where Mrs. Lopez is and...well it's not like I could ask your father-."

"No shit." Olivia said.

"Why couldn't you ask their father?" Marley questioned. Olivia and I exchanged looks.

"Is she serious? She can't be serious." Olivia said to me. Olivia sat down at her kitchen counter and sighed. "She doesn't know?"

"No." I said.

"What don't I know?" Marley questioned.

"None of your business." I snapped at her. It was a mistake to bring her here, I didn't have time to explain everything to her. "Olivia you know what I'm asking."

"I'm not going to file a fucking missing persons report okay. She's around, she does shit like this sometimes. She did it when we were younger too-." I cut Olivia off before she could finish.

"That's a little different, she did that because she couldn't show her face-."

"Okay, fuck off jeez, I'm not doing it." Olivia said. "If it was Quinn then yeah we'd file one, but this is my baby sister. I know her, and I know she's safe." I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. "She'll show, she always does."

…...

Quinn's POV

I knocked on Brittany and Charlie's door. Dave pulled it open less than a second later. I looked inside for Charlie, but all I could see where Dave, Sam, and Kurt pulling on light jackets. "Hey guys, heading out?"

"Yeah we're going to a football game. Wanna come?" Dave asked.

"No thanks." I told them.

"Okay, well Britt's inside still if you want to hang with her." Kurt said kissing both my cheeks as the boys left. I walked inside and closed the door behind me. Brittany was sitting on the couch with a journal in front of her, she rarely wore her glasses but she was wearing them now.

"Hey, B...whatcha doin?" I asked. I sat down on the couch and tried to get a peek at the journal but I couldn't see anything.

"Nothin." She said before closing the journal.

"Nothing?" I questioned.

"Yeah, nothing." She replied. "So I talked to Chris today and he told me what they said to him. God it makes me so angry. And apparently those guys go to NYU, how on earth do people so ignorant get into such a nice school?"

"I dunno B, politics or something I guess." I said with a shrug. "Has Charlie called back yet?"

"No, not yet, we decided not to tell the guys about it. They think she's in Ohio visiting an aunt. You know how they'd get, acting all macho and trying to find her by themselves." Brittany explained. "I just don't want them to have to deal with it."

"What about Rachel? Does she even know that we don't know where Santana is?" I asked her.

"She's the last person I'd want to tell." Brittany told me. "Shit, she's doing it again."

"It's not even close to being the same thing." I said.

"You're right, this time I think it's worse. I don't know, with the drinking, and mood stuff, you think it could've gotten out of hand? Do you think she's moved onto something like drugs?" That was a valid question, one I couldn't even begin to answer. Santana seemed fine the last time we talked. I thought things were okay.

"No, no way." I said with fake confidence. "I told myself I wasn't going to worry about it, so check me out, not worried. Let's change the subject."

"Question what do you think of me getting a tattoo?" I was a little more than surprised. I didn't even know Brittany was thinking about getting a tattoo.

"What? Since when do you want one? Wait...is Charlie pressuring you?" I asked.

"No, she's too scared to get one herself. But I was thinking about getting an infinity sign on the back of my neck and I need someone to go with me." She said.

"Why can't Charlie go?" I asked.

"Because she's too overprotective, and I wouldn't be surprised if she punched the tattoo artist because she thought they were hurting me." Brittany said. "It's just a thought, let me know when you've thought it through."

…...

Rachel's POV

I opened the door and looked inside. It was spacious, very artsy looking, it even had a break column in the middle of the room. I loved it, it was perfect. Santana walked in behind me, carrying a large mat and covers. "How do you like it? Doesn't it have such a good vibe?" She asked before tossing the mat and covers down.

She'd brought up most of the stuff herself, with some help from one of her new neighbors who was an aspiring model. Santana and I had already placed bets on whether or not he'd make it. Her refrigerator was fully stocked, she had a TV and a record player, but her bed hadn't come yet and she said she didn't mind sleeping on this massive bed mat she'd found for awhile. "I love it." I told her.

"The only problem with having you over is I always have to order this vegan crap to eat." Santana said as she pulled the takeout out of her refrigerator. I rolled my eyes, she always made a big deal about it, when I know she really liked eating vegetarian and vegan food all the time. She went to grab forks while I laid out the covers over the mat and sat down. I was in the middle of pulling off my shoes when she walked over.

"Oh make yourself at home, why don't you." She joked as she handed me my styrofoam box of food and a fork.

"You're in a playful mood." I told her and she smiled.

"I dunno, I have my own place in New York, it feels nice." She said before digging in to her food.

"So when I was at _XX _last night this girl was asking about you. She said that you were a heartthrob." Santana grinned.

"I kinda am aren't I?" I don't know what I liked more, Santana when she was humble or Santana when she was cocky. Right now I was just happy that she looked carefree. "Good this is fucking delicious." She said finishing up her food. I was always a slow eater so I was only halfway finished with my food. "Check me out." Santana said as she hopped onto her bike and rode in circles around me. "I feel like I'm flying." She said with a laugh.

"Get off that thing, you're going to hurt yourself." I warned her. I stood up and dodged her, jogging over and putting my food back in her fridge. I'd finish it later.

"Okay, fine, buzzkill." She put her bike back and fell onto her makeshift bed. I followed suit and laid down next to her. She looked over at me and smiled.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothin." She said with a grin. We looked at one another again but this time I noticed something different. Her pupils were dilated. I couldn't believe that I'd missed it before.

"Santana are you on something?" The last I remember she said she wasn't seeing the shrink anymore, but things could've changed. Maybe she'd gotten pills from him.

"What? No." She said.

"Your eyes Santana, I'm not stupid, your pupils are dilated." I said.

"It's nothing-."

"What are you on?" I asked her sitting up and moving away from her.

"It's just some X, come on it's not a big deal." I looked at her like she was crazy. Well who knows, maybe she was crazy. "I wanted to feel good."

"No this isn't you Santana, and I hate it." I stood up and started pulling on my shoes. She grabbed onto my wrist. "What? Let me go." She didn't let go.

"Look sometimes I want to feel okay, if I'd known you were going to come here then I wouldn't have done it, but I did. Without this stuff I feel like shit, alright." She kissed the back of my hand. "Just stay here." Which of course I did, because I wanted to protect her, because I realized that I was the only thing holding her together.

When we finally relaxed, and we were both under the covers with the lights off Santana spoke again. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, I couldn't see her but I felt her lips press against mine. This was the second time she'd kissed me without warning, without asking, but right now I didn't push her away or pull back.

She wrapped me into a hug and we stayed there in each other's arms. "Did I scare you?"

"A little."

"Did you think I was going to hurt you?" She asked.

"No." I said before shushing her and waiting for her to fall asleep in my arms.

**Review you lovely readers. And trust me I know, it feels like Santana's taking one step forward and two steps back, but that's my full intention. **


	11. Blood

**It's ridiculous how long it takes me to update this story, I know. **

Rachel's POV

"I'm gonna kill her." I looked at Charlie with a sympathetic stare. The only fault in her heart was that sometimes she cared too much. Sometimes she's just put her all into something or someone, and it'd end up hurting her in the end. "Seriously Rachel, I will buy a gun and shoot her-."

"Shut up." I said as I nudged my hip against Charlie's. She poured us two glasses of tea and handed one to me. "She just needed space, I could tell that everything was getting to her." I said.

"Everything? What's everything? I thought things were good-."

"She put a guy in the hospital, on what planet is that good?" I asked as we sat down at the table. I could hear movement in the other room; Sam must have just gotten up.

"On planet Lopez." Charlie said before taking a drink of her tea. "You know what, I'm so tired of talking about it, why don't I just talk to her?" Charlie suggested. I arched an eyebrow.

"No, no way. She doesn't want people coming around to check on her." I informed Charlie who just looked at me with the most annoying _know-it-all_ glare that I've ever seen.

"But she wants you around." Charlie leaned back in her chair and made a noise that can only be described as a breathless sigh. "You're two timing Kitty. Wow, Rachel who would've-."

"I'm not two timing anyone." I assured her.

"Yeah right, you're legs are around Kitty but your heart's stuck with Santana." I've never wanted to smack anyone more than I wanted to smack Charlie right now. "Whatever, it's your life. All I have to say is that Kitty's no good."

"Neither are you Charlie." I replied.

"Brittany seems to think I'm pretty great." Charlie said with a cocky grin. I smiled too because I really didn't want to fight and Charlie was really right. About what Brittany thought at least. "So what about a double date?"

"No." I replied.

"Oh come on, what you and Kitty don't leave the bedroom?" This time I did smack Charlie, only on her shoulder and not nearly as hard as I could have.

"You're only asking so you can size Kitty up." I told her.

"I'm asking for science-." Charlie whispered before Sam walked in. "Hey Sammy boy, what's up?"

"I am heading back home soon, that's what's up. I know I overstayed Charlie, but I thought I could get more out of Santana than I did." Sam sat down at the table and slumped in his seat. I've never seen him look so hollow.

"So you weren't here to record a song with Santana, huh?" None of us ever really did believe him, but I assumed he was here in a last ditch effort to get Quinn back. I didn't realize it had to do with Santana.

"No." Sam said before looking down at his hands. "Look I…"

"Sam?" I said quietly touching his arm, he looked up at me tears welling up in his eyes. He shook his hand and then looked back down.

"I um…I can't do this." Sam stood, he went into the other room, I heard him zip up his duffle bag. He was going to leave, right this second. I chased him to the door, stopping him before he could open it.

"Sam, what is it?" I asked. He didn't respond, he didn't want to. "Sam I deserve to know, I have to know."

"It'll be like opening up Pandora's box." He said before crossing his arms over his chest. "Look I don't know anything…not really at least. All I know is that whatever happened to her is the reason you two aren't together."

"What are you talking about?" I grabbed onto his arm, he wasn't leaving not before he explained what he meant.

"During the summer she just…fell apart, didn't you feel it?" Of course I did, it was impossible not to notice the difference in Santana. "I was there that day, you know when everything changed. You were out with Brittany at a dance class. I went over to ask about a concert…when I got there Santana was on the ground, curled up like…" Sam was searching for more words than he could handle. "And then the blood-."

"Blood?" I questioned.

"Once she'd calmed down, we cleaned it up…everything. Then she tried to pretend like nothing was wrong which lasted for like a week." Sam took a deep breath. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that, any of it. I'm sorry, Rachel." I couldn't stop him, I didn't know if I wanted to, I just stood there. Clueless. Like everything was crashing down, and it was crashing down fast.

"You okay?" Charlie asked. I wondered if she heard any of that. Of course she didn't, she would've fought and begged for more information.

"No." I said. "I think I need to go talk to Santana."

"Whoa hold on there." Charlie said.

"I just want some answers, why does everyone say everything but the answers?" I questioned. "I um…think that maybe someone hurt Santana."

"What?" Charlie asked.

"I'll let you know when I figure it out."

…

Quinn's POV

"Um Britt…what are you doing here?" I asked as I approached her. She was sitting in a NYU lecture hall alone with a notepad in front of her. "I mean it's okay that you're here, but you don't actually go to this school."

"I'm having a meeting." Brittany said.

"A meeting for…" I looked around.

"Um…I'm sort of putting together a rally." Okay this was just getting to be too weird. What on earth was Brittany talking about?

"A rally for…?"

"Chris…well not just Chris I guess, I just…I think this campus should be a safe place. For everyone. And if there's racism, homophobia, or sexism going around, and people feel marginalized, then that's not okay." My mouth hit the floor. "So I talked to Chris about it, and he said he wants to help out, so we're gonna spread the word of modern day equality."

"Am I dreaming?" I asked.

"Nope Q, you're wide awake." Brittany said with a smile.

"So I'm just gonna…" I pointed towards the door. "I'm meeting up with you know who about our first playoff game."

"Eh." Brittany said scrunching up her face.

"I just don't trust her, with the drugs, the way she's drooling over Santana. It's weird, but she's a really good player, and I need someone to practice with." I said with a shrug.

"So Rachel told you?" Brittany asked.

"Yep, San's got her own place now which is a big deal, but she didn't have to be so dramatic about it, disappearing off the face of the earth and all." I swung my backpack over my shoulder. "Whatever, I should probably meet up with Olivia soon to explain everything."

"I'll come with you when you do; I haven't seen Olive in ages." Brittany said.

"So when you're done with this whole rally thing, you gonna run for president?" I asked B as I backed towards the door.

"President Pierce does have a nice ring to it." She joked before waving goodbye to me. I smiled and left the lecture hall, rounding to a stop when I spotted Marley walking towards me.

"Hey, I thought we were meeting on the field." I said.

"We were…we are…" Marley looked over her shoulder like she was making sure no one was around. "I feel really bad."

"For…?"

"Giving Santana those pills." Marley shoved her hands into her pockets. "Look she looked like she was having a shit day, and…I thought they'd help her feel better-."

"Are you an idiot?" I asked her. "You don't give pills to someone who's been drinking away their feelings, you're lucky she's okay."

"I'm sorry-."

"Apologize to Rachel; she's the one who had to stick with her all night." I told her.

"Rachel was with her?" Marley questioned quickly.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

"Yeah, I thought they weren't dating anymore." Marley said, jealously dripping from her voice. "What the hell? So they're just fucking on the side?"

"Maybe." I said with a shrug, knowing that I was getting under her skin. "I think Rachel's going back over there tonight."

"That's so messed up." Marley said with a frown.

"That's life. So are we gonna practice or what?" I asked Marley.

"Sorry, I'm not really in the mood anymore." She brushed past me and I watched her go. That girl had it bad for Santana, and she hardly even knew a thing about her. I pulled out my phone and dialed Charlie's number.

"Hello." I didn't know who I was expecting but I sure as hell wasn't expecting to hear Kitty's voice on the other end.

"Um…what the fuck?"

"Oh right, I can see how this could sort of be weird. I'm at the bookstore so I can buy Rachel one of those stupid CD things." I rolled my eyes at Kitty's ignorance.

"It's called a vinyl record…and did you seriously just call Rachel's obsession stupid?" I didn't get a chance to hear Kitty's response because Charlie took the phone away from her. "Charlie what the actually hell?"

"Yeah Kitty doesn't understand boundaries." Charlie said. "So what's up?"

"Nothing I just wanted to check on my sis." I said as I walked through the entrance to the school.

"No, but what do you _really_ want?" Charlie asked.

"I just wanted to tell you how great your girlfriend is." I said with a smile.

"Oh please don't tell me you have a crush on her, that'd make this whole twin thing really awkward." I wish I could smack Charlie through the phone, but I was about 15 miles away from being able to do that.

"Please spare me. All I'm saying to you is cherish her." It wasn't just about my sister being happy, it was about her finding someone that's perfect for her, and Brittany was just that.

"All Quinnie you're such a sap I love it." Charlie said with a laugh. "Well even if you're a sap and a loser, Britt wants to try that new Mexican place and even though we'll probably get food poisoning, I was told to invite you and your hunk boyfriend."

"I'm down for whatever. But we have to go to that club before. It's gonna have to be like a midnight date, or tomorrow."

"Tomorrow it is." Charlie said. "Charlie out."

"Roger that."

…

Charlie's POV

I leaned up against the wall, trying to peak in to the dance studio. I could just barely see Brittany moving to the rhythm of a hip hop song. I could see Brittany moving and spinning and flipping without a care in the world. I could tell that the real class was over because there was no instructor, just fifteen or so students showing off for one another.

I stepped into the room slowly trying not to draw any attention away from Brittany.

I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was because one of the dancers turned around and lowered the music. "Brittany it looks like you have an admirer." One of the guys said with a laugh. I could feel my face heating up. Brittany stopped dance and gave me a wink.

"My admirer is pretty cute." She said with a grin. She walked over and grabbed the front of my shirt pulling me close enough so that our lips were only inches apart. "We should go out."

"You're not my type." I joked, Brittany shoved me back and laughed. "Are we gonna get out of here or what?" I asked. There were a couple of guys still watching us, but a few girls and two guys had started dancing again.

"I thought you liked watching me dance." Brittany said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Or is that only when I'm taking off my clothes?"

"You're in a playful mood today." I said with a smile. "I love it."

"Well I love you." Brittany kissed me quickly before grabbing her bag and intertwining our fingers. "Let's go." I lead the way out of the studio and out onto the sidewalk. Brittany was quiet now that we were outside and I wondered what got her to stop talking.

"What's wrong Blondie?"

"Well already talked to Quinn about it, and I don't like keeping things from you so I…uh think I'm getting a tattoo." To say that I was shocked was an understatement. "Stop looking at me like that, you're making me nervous about your approval."

"First off, it's your body and I don't own you, so you can do whatever you want. But if you want my opinion about a tat then I'd be glad to help. I could draw something out for you if you want." Brittany's smile grew.

"You are so the best girlfriend on earth." I shrugged as we walked onto the subway train. "And the cutest. Are you still thinking about switching up your hair."

"Hm…wait I don't remember telling you about that." I said with a confused expression.

"Yeah but you told Kurt and you can't trust him with any secret." She certainly had a point there. But now at least with Sam and Kurt gone, Dave was the only straggler in our apartment. He'd be leaving soon though, so Brittany and I could have the place to ourselves again.

"Blue or purple, which one do you want?" I asked.

"You're letting me choose?" Brittany squealed with excitement.

"Yeah of course, you're always running your hands through my hair anyway, so of course I'll let you choose." Brittany thought for a moment before grinning.

"Blue."

"Blue it is."

…

Santana's POV

"You didn't have to come over again. I know you're only trying to make sure I'm not drowning in booze or doping." Rachel laid down on the bed and laughed while I opened up the freshly delivered pizza box filled with vegan pizza inside. I walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Did you know that this was the same pizza we had on our first day?" Rachel asked me as she picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite.

"What? That lunch thing at Grace's Vegan Hut? That wasn't a date…did you think it was a date?" I asked her.

"It totally was, I was crushing on you so bad by then. Didn't you notice when I was asking about your bracelets and touching you as much as I possibly could?" I smiled at the memory; it was one of my favorites.

"I just wanted to kiss you all the time back then, I remember because every time we were alone I couldn't stop thinking about it. Your lips, your body-." I didn't know how we kept ended up like this, so close, so intense.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked. "I came over here to keep you company and to get free pizza, not hook up."

"You came over so I'd kiss you and you wouldn't have to feel bad about it." Rachel's eyes darkened.

"I thought we couldn't be together, and now suddenly you're all over me?" She seemed confused but she didn't understand how easy it was for me now. Being under the radar changed things. It changed everything.

"Excuse me for feel safe, no one knows where here-."

"Yeah, so what?" Rachel questioned. "Are you hiding from someone?" I set my pizza down and stood up, walking over to grab a glass of water. "Who?"

"Look if you're going to start investigating me then you can just leave." I told her as I grabbed a glass out of my cupboard. I could hear Rachel standing up and walking towards me.

"Last night you were shaking, you were sweating bullets, and you kept saying _mommy_." Rachel informed me. "I had to hold you to keep you from freaking out. How long has that been happening?" She asked.

"Let's talk about something cheerful like show tunes or kittens." I suggested.

"Did you father do something?" The glass slipped out of my hand and shattered on the floor. I just stared at it while Rachel rushed over and grabbed the garbage can. I snapped out of it a second later and started picking up the stray pieces of glass. "Santana, don't do that you're going to-."

"Ow!" I said pulling back my hand. It seemed like a small cut but the blood started dripping down my hand and Rachel rushed over acting like it was a bullet wound. She grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet, rushing me over to the sink so she could clean the cut. "Jesus Rachel, it's just a cut."

"I worry about you though." Rachel said. Everything about her mannerisms screamed _avoidance _and I didn't know how to respond.

"Sam told you didn't he?" It was the only rational conclusion, the only thing that would explain everything. Rachel kissed my cut and looked up at me.

"He only told me what he knew, about the blood…how he found you…but he doesn't know much." Rachel explained. "Who hurt you? Because I will find them and kill them-."

"Rachel, I feel safe here. Right now. I feel safe." I brushed past Rachel and laid down on my bed. "I was going to run…it was run or find a place where I could feel safe. This is that place and you're a part of that for me."

"Who are you protecting?" Rachel asked.

"You." I whispered. "I never cared about me, that never mattered, what mattered for me is that you'd be okay."

"I can't spend the night." Rachel said shaking her head. "Because every time I stay with you for too long we do this thing where we fall in love again for a couple of hours, and every time I leave our hearts have to break. I just…I can't stay the night."

"So let's finish this food, and then I'll take you home."

**As you can see Rachel is slowly going to start to chip away at what happened, and as more and more answers come along, more and more drama begins to build within the group. **


	12. Love, Loss, Love

**Thank you for sticking with this story and me, even though there's a long time between each update. At least you get the start of an answer in this chapter. Enjoy.**

Charlie's POV

"Wait you really said that to her? You two confuse the hell out of me, it's so back and forth, it gives me a damn headache." I said as we walked down the hallway towards her dorm room. I was carrying carry out Chinese food and some other vegan stuff, so we could eat before we went out tonight.

Truthfully she and I were planning on getting a little more than tipsy tonight, mostly due to the fact that Brittany was visiting her family in New Mexico and Rachel had that whole Santana slash Kitty thing going on. We needed some food in us before we liquored up at the club. "I know, I know, but it's true. When I spend time with her it's always…_intense._" I rolled my eyes, because of course it was intense, everyone could tell.

"Look when you sleep with someone it changes things. And even if you want to cover it up with dating Kitty, it's not going to work, because guess what. I know you haven't slept with her, because you're still hanging on to Santana." Rachel opened her door and tried to brush off every word that I'd said.

"Kitty and I have slept together." Rachel told me as she reached into a small compartment by her mini-fridge and grabbed two paper plates.

"You are so full of shit, it's almost funny." I said as I pulled out the food and grabbed a plate from Rachel. "I say almost because you're in some kind of crazy denial."

"Charlie, I'd really appreciate if you supported my denial, not ridiculed it." Rachel said with a groan. "How are you doing without Brittany?"

"Awful, last night I made Kurt come over so we could drink wine and complain about my momentary single life and his currently permanent single life. Then we watched _Orphan Black_ and I started crying because of the whole identity crisis thing and how Quinn and I are kinda like the clones…it was bad." Rachel laughed and began eating.

"You're pathetic." She told me.

"Well so are you, and you're short." I said with a smirk. "So how awkward is it when you go out to parties with Kitty and Santana there?"

"Not awkward at all." Rachel lied.

"Well see I have a feeling tonight's gonna be different." I explained. "Is Kitty coming."

"Yup." I gagged and Rachel smacked the back of my head. "I can't get used to it."

"The hair? Yeah I know, it's a big change." Rachel put her food down and stood in front of me. Running her hands through my hair and laughing. "Stop."

"Blue is awesome, I love it." Rachel said with a grin. "Seriously, what was the other option?"

"Purple." I said.

"Oh can you dye it that color next?" Rachel asked. "I mean only if it's okay with Brittany." I grabbed Rachel's hands and pulled them away from my hair.

"What does that mean?" I asked her.

"You do everything Brittany wants." Rachel said with a shrug. "Which makes you like the dream girlfriend, don't take it badly, I'm complementing you."

"I just love her." I told her.

"And she loves you. If hypothetically Kitty and I break up, and Santana runs away, would you and Brittany consider a polygamous relationship, cause I'd be into that." I was too busy laughing to notice Kitty walk in and when she did, she looked annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Kitty asked me.

"Eating, what does it look like?" To be fair, Kitty sounded more hostile than I did, which was saying something. I wouldn't object to kicking her ass in the parking lot, not at all.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. What's wrong? Still depressed over the fact that higher education has eluded you." Now I for sure wanted to fight her, I'd even want to invite Santana to throw the first punch.

"Kitty, if you ever say something like that to her again then we're done, do you understand? Charlie is my friend, and you don't get to disrespect her." I wanted to fist pump in the air, but al I did was smirk at Kitty.

"Well sorry then…my bad." Kitty said with out an ounce of sincerity. "You coming with us tonight?"

"Yep." I said shortly.

"Won't that be weird? I mean Brittany's not here, aren't you afraid you might drink a little too much and like hook up with another girl?" Rachel and I exchanged glances.

"No, I'm not worried about that at all. Brittany can trust me and I trust myself, I would never hurt the woman I love."

…

Quinn's POV

"Where's your boyfriend?" Santana asked me over the roar of the music. She handed me a beer and sat down at the table next to me.

"He had to work on a paper tonight." I explained to her. "We party way too much, I'm gonna flunk out of school probably." I added with a shrug.

"Not a chance, you're a fucking genius." Santana assured me. "Dude, look at Charlie she looks like she's about to go fucking postal on Kitty." I looked over and saw Charlie talking to Kitty and Rachel. I knew Marley was around here somewhere, of course she was, because Santana was here.

"Serves her right." I said with a smile. "Could you do something for me?"

"What?"

"Go over and ask Rachel to dance." Santana rolled her eyes at the suggestion but she wasn't willing to dismiss it entirely.

"Why?"

"Because I wanna see how pissed Kitty will get. I think she's oddly possessive and it worries me." I explained. Charlie told me what happened earlier, about how she and Rachel were only touching their hands together playfully, and Kitty acted like a bitch.

"Alright well let me go over there." Santana had only walked a few feet when Marley intercepted her. "Hey."

"Hi, can I talk to you outside for a second?" Santana glanced back at me before shrugging and following Marley out back. I got up and rushed over to get Charlie.

"Hey, Charlie." I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer towards me. "Marley's acting sketchy as fuck, can you check on her and Santana out back?" I was whispering but I could tell that Rachel at least overheard me.

"Why are they back there?" Charlie asked.

"I dunno, but I'm worried about her. Can you just go check?" Charlie nodded and we headed towards the back exit. Charlie walking confidently until we got to the back door. Charlie cracked it open and then further walking out like there was no one around.

When we both stepped out, I heard voices, we could see Santana and Marley and we could hear them, but they couldn't see us. "Marley look I'm not really…I mean I would but I can't." Charlie and I exchanged worried looks.

"I won't push it on you, but it's good stuff." We tried to see what Marley was holding, but we hardly needed to in order to understand what was going on. Marley was trying to get Santana to take drugs; I couldn't tell if it was coke or heroin.

"That's so fucked up." Charlie whispered.

"I've never used that stuff before…the X you gave me…it was a mistake. I ended up hurting someone I really care about. I may be kinda stupid sometimes, but I know not to make the same mistake twice." Santana was about to walk away but she stopped short. "And Marley, seriously, stay away from that stuff. You're on a sports team, if they find out about that stuff then you're screwed."

"You really piss me off sometimes, do you know that?" Marley snapped.

"How?" Santana questioned.

"There's so much fucking chemistry between us, don't you see that?" Charlie and I both rolled our eyes at that. "You wanted me when we first met. I know you did, it was written all over your face."

"I didn't know what I wanted. I thought that maybe I could hook up with a few people; I thought would help, but it won't. And it wouldn't help you either." Santana started. I was beginning to feel like we shouldn't be listening in on this conversation. "Sex isn't just for fun, it's meaningful, at least it is to me. I'm sorry Marley, but I can't start something with you-."

"If you wait for Rachel to come around, then you'll be waiting forever." Marley said coldly. "Is that what you want?"

"It doesn't matter what I want. _I _broke her heart, _I _fucked things up, I don't mind waiting forever. She's worth it." I pushed Charlie back inside and we rushed over towards Kurt so we could pretend like we were inside the whole time.

"Kurt give me your drink." Kurt hardly moved, he was too busy trying to chat up some straight guy to respond so I took the drink myself. "I wish my boyfriend was here, he'd find a way to make me feel not so awful about eavesdropping."

"Trust me, I wish Brittany was here too."

…

Rachel's POV

I tried not to watch her, but that proved to be impossible. I saw her leave with Marley for a moment, but then she came back in about ten minutes later. I wanted to know what that was about, but Kitty was holding my hand and she didn't seem like she wanted to let go any time soon. Santana spotted me and smiled before walking over towards us. "Hey, I didn't see you guys when you came in."

"Yeah we must have missed you too." Kitty said coldly. I could feel the animosity between them, but it was too difficult to calm them both down. Oddly enough, Santana seemed like the more level headed one between the two. "What were you and your girlfriend talking about?" Santana arched an eyebrow.

"Marley is not my girlfriend." Santana told Kitty.

"Oh I'm sorry I forgot we called them _fuck buddies_." Santana was pissed I could tell. I'd spent two years dating her, I knew when she was upset. Kitty went to far, but she didn't understand why, sometimes that really got to me.

"I'm gonna go get a drink." Santana walked off, leaving me enough time to glare at Kitty before she came back.

"What the hell is your problem with her?" I asked Kitty.

"I don't like her, you know that. I don't like the way she looks at you. Why do you still have to be friends with her?" Possessive didn't even begin to cover it. Kitty always held me close or stared people down when they looked at me. At first it was noble but now it just freaks me out. Honestly, I'd rather be spending my time with Santana tonight, she was at least trying to be nice.

When Santana returned she had two drinks in her hand. One she gave to me, the other she held out for Kitty. "I'm sorta holding back." Kitty took the drink and downed it, and I only took a sip of mine. "Rachel do you…wanna dance." Kitty leaned back against the table behind us and crossed her arms over her chest. "No strings attached, like…_fuck buddies_, only without the fucking." I wanted to laugh, but instead I grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her out on the dance floor.

"You like getting a rise out of people." I said as I wrapped my arms around Santana's neck and leaned against her body. We'd managed to make it on the dance floor, during the only slow song they'd played all night.

"Well I can say one thing with certainty and it's that I like dancing with you." I smiled and held her closer.

"I'm sorry." I said, even the words sounded foreign on my lips. Even I didn't know why I was saying that. Santana pulled back a little, just enough so she could look at me. "I'm sorry you don't feel safe here sometimes. I'm sorry that I know you too well, I'm sorry that I can see the pain in your eyes."

"Rachel-."

"San I-." Santana was shoved away from me a second later. She fell to the ground with a thud. It took me a second to realize that Kitty was the one who pushed her away.

"Hey, you don't get to touch my girlfriend freak show." Kitty yelled at Santana who was slow to get up.

"We were just dancing." Santana defended, she glanced at me and then back to Kitty. "You don't own her." Santana said. Charlie pushed between the crowd that surrounded us and grabbed Santana's arm.

"Come on, let's go." Charlie said to Santana. I was still so stunned by the whole thing, that it took me a couple of moment to gather myself, and start walking after them.

"Where are you going?" Kitty shouted after me. I was outside before I knew it, but Charlie and Santana were nowhere in sight. When I felt Kitty's hand on my shoulder I shrugged her off. "What the hell Rachel?"

"What's your problem?" I asked Kitty.

"My problem is your ex, she's still in love with you. I can see how she looks at you, you need to tell her to fuck off or I will." I'd never seen this side of Kitty, and it was disgusting. All I could see was pure hate in her eyes.

"She's my friend-."

"She is not your friend! You guys fight, and laugh, and hang around each other, and all you're doing is pretending. You can call it whatever you want, but you can't call it friendship. I want you to stay away from her." I searched Kitty's eyes for the thing that first attracted me to her, the thing that drew me to her smile, but I couldn't find it. Maybe I was desperate; maybe I really was trying to hurt Santana on some deeper level.

"You don't own me." I assured her.

"I'm your girlfriend-."

"Not anymore." I said feeling like I'd been laid out by a brick wall. "I told you not to mess with my friends and you did anyway. And I know you just wanted me for sex-."

"Newsflash you and I didn't even fuck, I held out for this long, for nothing? Biggest fucking mistake of my life. I figured you'd be easy, since you were hanging all over that Mexican slut all the time." I set my jaw, I didn't have to say anything to her, I didn't owe her anything.

"Fuck you." I said before turning on my heels and walking down the street.

"Yeah well fuck you too!" Kitty yelled. I didn't care. That was the most sobering part. I just broke up with Kitty and I didn't care. Maybe I was just as conflicted as Santana was, we may not have the same circumstances, but we were in the same place.

Maybe it wasn't as complicated as I thought it was. Maybe she just broke down, maybe she was just so overwhelmed with her emotions that she couldn't add love into the mix. I might have been giving her too much credit, _love_ for her wasn't something she understood, or at least not completely. Love for her was tainted, and I hope it wasn't as complicated, I needed it to be simple.

But it wasn't, deep down I knew it wasn't, but I was willing to try. I had to try, because Santana loved me.

And I couldn't get that out of my mind.

…

Santana's POV

"You let her push you." I looked over at Charlie and smiled. "You let someone named Kitty push you, and you didn't fight back. What was with that? Turning over a new leaf are we?"

"I didn't want Rachel to see me get angry, it scares her." Kurt walked into the room and handed me a glass of water. "Plus it wasn't worth it…it never is."

"When are you gonna go see Olivia?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know-."

"She needs you San. She's freaked out, and since your mom has resorted to snail mail letters…you're just about the only family she has right now." Maybe she was right, but I didn't know what I would say to her. How to start even. "Are you still mad at her?"

"For what?" I snapped. "For what?" I repeated, only quietly this time.

"For…" Charlie glanced at Kurt, I could tell she wanted this conversation to be between us, not him, but I didn't mind having him here. He knew about my father, I didn't have to hide that anymore. "Leaving."

"Haven't we already had this conversation?" I asked Charlie.

"Yeah _we _have, but you haven't spoken to Olivia about it." Charlie explained. "Maybe it would just be better if you got your mom to come here for a visit. You three have been through hell, it might help if you all-."

"No" I said before standing up and grabbing my jacket. "That won't be happening." Kurt and Charlie both stared at me. "I'm going home."

"Let me take you." Charlie offered.

"No, it's okay, I'll be fine…I just…would rather be alone right now."

…

It took longer than I expected to make it home. I opened my door, shrugged off my jacket and went straight to my makeshift bed on the floor. I was about to take off my pants and get under the covers when I heard a noise and looked up.

Rachel was standing there. Neither one of us said anything for two minutes. We just stared.

"Your door was unlocked." She said, hardly above a whisper.

"Are you okay?" She looked like she had been crying. "Did Kitty hurt you?" I was about to stand up and walk all the way to the NYADA dorms if I had to.

"Technically I hurt her, I broke with her." Rachel looked like that was the absolute last thing she wanted to talk about. "Are you in love with me?"

"Where is this coming from?" I asked her.

"Just say it."

"I love you." It felt so natural; it was the easiest thing I'd done in the past few months.

"Tell me what happened this summer." Rachel urged me. "If you love me, then you'll tell me, and let me help you."

"I can't-."

"You can." Rachel interrupted. "You can, and you will."

"I'm not as strong as you think I am." I pulled my knees to my chest, I could feel the tears coming even though I didn't want them too.

"No, you're stronger." Rachel assured me. "If you won't listen to Olivia, Charlie, or me…then I'll call your mother-."

"You can't!" I said trying to fight back against the pain and tears, fighting as hard as I could.

"And why's that?"

The silence that followed hurt more than the words that followed. "Because she's dead."

**Review? **


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